Physics and Star Wars

The space operainterstellar epic Star Wars uses science and technology in its settings and storylines. The series has showcased many technological concepts, both in the movies and in the expanded universe of novels, comics and other forms of media. The Star Wars movies' primary objective is to build upon drama, philosophy, political science and less on scientific knowledge. Many of the on-screen technologies created or borrowed for the Star Warsuniverse were used mainly as plot devices.

The iconic status that Star Wars has gained in popular culture and science fiction allows it to be used as an accessible introduction to real scientific concepts. Many of the features or technologies used in the Star Wars universe are not yet considered possible. Despite this, their concepts are still probable.

A NASA depiction of a theoretical viewpoint from Kepler-16b's orbit of its two suns.

In the past scientists thought that planets would be unlikely to form around binary stars. However, recent simulations indicate that planets are just as likely to form around binary star systems as single-star systems.[1] Of the 3457 exoplanets currently known, 146 actually orbit binary star systems (and 39 orbit multiple star systems with 3 or more stars). Specifically, they orbit what are known as "wide" binary star systems where the two stars are fairly far apart (several AU). Tatooine appears to be of the other type — a "close" binary, where the stars are very close, and the planets orbit their common center of mass.

The first observationally confirmed binary — Kepler-16b — is a close binary. Exoplanet researchers' simulations indicate that planets form frequently around close binaries, though gravitational effects from the dual star system tend to make them very difficult to find with current Doppler and transit methods of planetary searches.[1] In studies looking for dusty disks—where planet formation is likely—around binary stars, such disks were found in wide or narrow binaries, or those whose stars are more than 50 or less than 3 AU apart, respectively. Intermediate binaries, or those with between 3 and 50 AU between them, had no dusty disks.[2] In 2011 it was reported by The Guardian that NASA space craft Kepler had discovered a planet, named Kepler-16b, with twin suns as seen in the Star Wars films.[3]

Certified astrophysicist and Star Wars fan Jeanne Cavelos explains that scientists have been skeptical about the likelihood of binary star systems such as Tatooine since the gravity of one star may prevent planets from developing around the other. Two stars of different masses orbiting one another would cause gravity fields to shift, causing potential instabilities in the orbits of any planets in their system.[4]

Even planets in more stable orbits of a binary star system would suffer other kinds of problems according to her such as climatic problems. As an example, a planet in a binary star system orbiting the larger star would be drawn closer to its gravitational field, causing the planet to endure heat of great temperatures during this period. As the planet passes its larger star and reaches the orbit of its smaller star, the gravitational field of that star would give the planet more distance from it. The distance (perhaps along with the smaller solar projection of the star) would send the planet into extreme frigid temperatures.[4]

According to Cavelos, astronomers hypothesize at least two possible solutions to these problems exist and that even life supporting binary star systems could exist. One scenario could be two stars billions of miles apart. A planet or planets would be able to orbit one star while at minimum influence of the other. A star known as Proxima Centauri, or Alpha Centauri C, is about one trillion miles away from its sister stars, Alpha Centauri A and B. Also according to her, astronomers believe that Proxima Centauri could have planets of its own, and if so, would be minimally influenced by Proxima Centauri's sister stars due to the vast distance between them and these sister stars. Assuming the existence of planets around Proxima Centauri, the sister stars from these planets would appear as bright stars in the sky.[4]

Another scenario would be two stars that would be closer to one another at a distance of only a few million miles. A planet orbiting far enough away would be affected by their gravitational fields almost as if there were one. If the distance between the two stars was a small fraction of the distance between them and the planet, it would be stable for the planet. Dawn and dusk would occur on such a planet as they would on Tatooine.[4]

Star Wars makes heavy use of blaster and ion weaponry, attributed to laser, plasma or particle based bolts of light. Characters can be seen escaping, or even dodging those bolts, and the blaster bolts themselves can be seen flying at a moderate-fast speed. Dodging a laser bolt would be nearly impossible, as it would travel at the speed of light.[5] Due to that, it is reasonable the blaster fire would pass like a sparkle, and hit its target. Sometimes, characters will call the bolts "laser bolts" that while they don't travel at light speed, are made of intense light energy.

However, many official canonical Star Wars sources state that blaster technology is different from real lasers. According to official canon, they are a form of particle beam.[6] This is supported by how "magnetically sealed" walls deflect them.[7]

The Polish Academy of Sciences in collaboration with the University of Warsaw managed to film an ultra short laser pulse by using cameras that produce billions of frames per second. These laser pulses were so powerful that they almost instantly ionized the atoms they encountered, resulting in the formation of a plasma fiber filament.[8]

The effects of a blaster on a live target were portrayed more or less the same in every part of the Star Wars series. Since blaster bolts consist of light or particle based energy, the bolts would burn through the flesh of a target, with some even exploding against their target, exerting great force. The latter effect was usually from a blaster with greater size. Blasters have even been shown to have plasma energy as ammunition, which is portrayed as blue bolts. As of The Force Awakens, these blue bolts rupture and damage flesh with little to no burning, which causes bleeding injuries, as Poe shot a Stormtrooper with a blaster that caused him to bleed until death. Another instance of a blaster causing bleeding was when Chewbacca shot Kylo Ren with his Bowcaster, the small explosion against his body causing a bleeding injury coupled with burns. In many modern showings of blaster fights, someone hit by a blaster has cinders and soot outlining the area where they were shot. Also blasters hit with great amounts of friction and kinetic energy, enough to cause sparks to fly off the target, make the target burst into flames, or kill a target on impact, even if the target is not penetrated by the bolt, as it is when some targets are armored against blasters.

Star Wars is possibly best known for its epic space dogfights. Blaster, engine and explosion sounds can be heard in those space scenes. Space is a vacuum, however, and since sound requires matter to propagate, the audience should not hear any sound.[9][10]

This has been explained in some Star Wars media as the result of a sensor system that creates three-dimensional sound inside the cockpit or bridge matching the external movement of other vessels, as a form of multimodal interface.[citation needed] In the canon novel "Lords of the Sith" it is explained that the characters in a galaxy far far away do not indeed hear any sound from the extract,

[Vader's] interceptor streaked toward the gun bubble, aimed directly at it. Content with the trajectory, he unstrapped himself, overrode the interceptor’s safeties, threw open the cockpit hatch, and ejected into space.

Immediately he was spinning in the zero-g, the ship and stars alternating positions with rapidity. Yet he kept his mental hold on the air-lock handle, and his armor, sealed and pressurized, sustained him in the vacuum. The respirator was loud in his ears.

His ship slammed into the gun bubble and the transport, the inability of the vacuum to transmit sound causing the collision to occur in eerie silence. Fire flared for a moment, but only a moment before the vacuum extinguished it.

Therefore the ability to hear sound in a vacuum by the audience isn't heard by the iconic characters, but only to the audience as an interpretation to imagine what sounds we hear in the films as out-of-universe artifacts. [11]

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it.(June 2016)

In The Empire Strikes Back, after the Battle of Hoth, the Millennium Falcon is pursued by Imperial ships through a dense asteroid field. The chunks of rock in the field are moving at rapid speeds, constantly colliding, and densely packed. Ordinarily, an asteroid field or belt is unlikely to be so densely packed with large objects, because collisions reduce large objects to rubble. About the only way for an asteroid belt to maintain itself would be to "balance destructive high-speed collisions with constructive soft collisions", but it is unclear whether this is happening in the film.[12]

In contrast to Star Wars, the ship featured in 2001: A Space Odyssey, Discovery One, had a course that took it directly through the asteroid belt in the novel, without real fear of collision on the part of the mission organizers. However, the Solar System's Asteroid Belt is far less dense and several real spacecraft have passed through it without harm.[12]

On the other hand, the so-called Trojan asteroid fields, named after the asteroids found in Jupiter-SunLagrange points, are known to be packed much more densely. The Solar System contains two such fields, the Greek Trojans and the Trojan Trojans, and two more (Neptune's trojans) are discovered recently but little is known about them currently.

Unlike the true flight dynamics of space, those seen in Star Wars closely mirror the familiar dynamics of flying in Earth's atmosphere. For example, fixed-wing aircraft must make banked turns because they use air pressure to operate. Yet, in the airless vacuum of space in Star Wars, the spaceships always (unnecessarily) bank when turning. Physicist Lawrence M. Krauss says this is for a simple reason: "it looks good."[13] By banking, the center of gravity would be maintained so up is still up but the g forces generated at such speeds would surely injure the occupants. This is handled in the films by devices known as "inertial compensaters".

In order to turn in non-atmospheric flight, some force must still be applied to the craft, presumably by some sort of thruster or generated force field wave, the location of which (in relation to the craft's centre of gravity) will dictate the orientation of the ship, or bank angle, required to make the turn.[10]

Following the events of Return of the Jedi, there has been widespread speculation that the destruction of the second Death Star as seen in the film would cause a radiation spread on the forest moon of Endor's atmosphere and surface; given that the explosion was caused by an attack on its (nuclear) core reactor.[14]

The phenomenon has been around supposedly since 1997 following a number of comic book productions on Star Wars beyond the original trilogy (canonity unknown) and has been known as "The Endor Holocaust".[15] It came about from a rational analysis in multiple commentaries of the aftermath of the second Death Star's destruction and its hypothetical effects on the forest moon and its living inhabitants. Based on all the information from the stories, it has been concluded that a nuclear fallout would cause radioactive contamination on the surface of the planet (or moon), leading to widespread death and destruction.[15]

More recent analysis by physicists has supported the theory from a scientific perspective.[16]

Studying and analyzing the second Death Star's destruction, physicists hypothesize its results and consequences. Astrophysicist and Star Wars fan Dave Mosher covers the film's events in a 10,000 word essay. His first argument is the Death Star explosion resulting from the rebel attack on its nuclear reactor, the whole space station would be reduced to a large number of fine metallic pieces raining down on Endor. The debris would burn up in Endor's atmosphere turning into toxic soot and spark planetary firestorms.[17]

Another scientist, Sarah Stewart, reanalysis the situation and theorizes the moon's previous state after some environmental cleanup from the Death Star's fallout.[17]

Matija Cuk, who studies orbital dynamics, theorizes the Death Star's reactor blowing up in one second, sending enormous chunks of debris at about 220,000 miles per hour. He argues the energy carried by the debris would not be sufficient to destroy the moon, but erode the side facing the Death Star. He also argues all ships near the Death Star at the time of its explosion would be destroyed by it. He also adds the rebels witnessing the explosion from the planet's surface would be killed by the radiation released from the explosion even before the debris reaches them.[17]

He concludes the debris following the explosion would strike the moon's surface would send rocks on the surface to the far side of the moon. In his analysis, the extinction of the Ewoks is inevitable.[17]

Planetary physicist, Erik Asphaug, who also studies giant impacts on moons and planets opposes these theories. He argues the Death Star would not be reduced to tiny bits following explosion. He argues that all nuclear explosions in rock would vaporize matter near it, but break matter a further distance away into pieces. The further away the pieces, the less they would break. He concludes large chunks of the Death Star would hit the forest moon's surface, some even creating craters. The most problematic result in his analysis is the fire caused by the large radioactive debris that would set the moons forests ablaze.[17]

A detailed analysis to the aftermath of the Death Star explosion in Return of the Jedi by planetary scientist, Dave Minton, concludes all the Ewoks would have all died as a result. Using the information provided from the holograms in the briefing scene aboard the giant cruiser Home One in Episode VI, Minton estimates the diameter of the Death Star (or Death Star II to distinguish it from the first Death Star in Episode IV: A New Hope) is about three hundred and forty three kilometers or about seven percent the diameter of Endor.[18]

This would make Endor slightly larger than Mars but about 15% the size of Earth. He also notes that in diameter, Endor would still be smaller than Mars, but denser in mass by his measurement formula. Endor's composition being smaller would be unusual, but not impossible according to him.[18]

He applies this data to the orbital dynamics problem. Discounting the possibility of the second Death Star being preserved in Endor's orbit by the use of anti-gravitational repulsors (a commonality in the Star Wars galaxy), Minton instead compares the Death Star in the forest moon's orbit to that of a satellite in Earth's orbit. Applying Kepler's Third Law, he determines an orbital period as exactly one day. But applying this law, he determines astrophysical problems with the Death Star using Endor's gravity to sustain itself in the forest moon's orbit. For simplicity, he assumes a day on Endor as 24 hours.[18]

Minton also argues the explosion of the second Death Star in Episode VI is lighter than that of the first one in Episode IV. His argument is drawn from the two films where the one in A New Hope explodes instantaneously; wheres the second one in Return of the Jedi explodes in a longer time period, allowing the rebel pilots to escape alive and their ships unharmed by the explosion.[18] The film specifically shows Wedge Antilles and Lando Calrissian hitting two main sections of the core reactor from an X-Wing Fighter and the Millennium Falcon (co-piloted by Nien Numb), causing the reactor to collapse and start a chain explosion and resulting in the Death Star blowing up from a series of internal explosions and collapses.[19]

Minton therefore concludes there would be little vaporization of remaining material and that the explosion would move a lot slower than what is required to keep them in orbit, which he estimates is about 212 miles per second. Using the equation representing orbital velocity of the Death Star, he theorizes the fragments would need to be orbiting at about 4.5 kilometers per second to maintain orbit at the same altitude the Death Star had been. Since this does not happen, he argues the remains of the former Death Star would fall straight into the area where the shield generator has been on the moon's surface.[18]

To estimate the effects of the second Death Star, Minton looks into its mass. According to estimated data from some students of Lehigh University, the steel mass needed for building one would be around 770 kilograms times the mass cubed in weight. This would give the Death Star of about ten to the power of nineteen kilograms in mass. Using this data, Minton produces equations that lead him to conclude the fragments would hit the moons surface so hard causing craters almost four times the Chixculub creator in Mexico, which is related with Dinosaur extinction. Additionally such an impact would, not only cause a planetary firestorm and undoubtedly vaporize all lifeforms on the moon.[18]

The hyperspace travel in the Star Wars franchise requires two elements, light speed travel and Hyperspace. Ships in the Star Wars Universe have engines capable of propelling them to the speed of light. However, current physical theory states that it is impossible for any physical object to attain that speed, as long as the object has a non-zero mass. Doing so would require infinite energy, which is also impossible to generate in our universe.[10] Even if one was traveling at the speed of light, it would still take thousands of years to travel the galaxy, unless the galaxy is smaller in size, possibly the case in Star Wars; therefore the Star Wars ships use a "hyperdrive".

This is explained by having the ships warp to another "dimension", presumably a brane universe with different physical laws. Gravity supposedly reaches between branes. In Star Wars, gravity in real spaces forms gravitic "mass shadows" in hyperspace. Hyperspace in Star Wars is unrelated to the presumed space between universal "bubbles" in real life physics.[20]

The hyperdrive when started, presumably contracts the space in front of the starship and expands it behind the space vessel. According to scientists, this concept is very vague and only probable in theoretical physics, but could become a possibility in the next three centuries.[21]

In the Star Wars franchise, almost everyone can breathe and move on many planets, and these, as well as the star systems, are treated as small places.[citation needed] Both defects have an accurate explanation.

The Star Wars Expanded Universe states that many of the planets of the galaxy were colonized and adapted to the atmosphere and gravity of the most populated species, and there are also many species—such as Kel Dor and Skakoans—that need to use devices like breathing masks or pressurized suits.[citation needed] In the other case, since the Star Wars franchise develops itself to the intergalactic level, it is assumed that almost all the planets on it are planetary civilizations, a theory well-based in reality and that could possibly happen in a distant future.

The novelization of A New Hope, ghostwritten by Alan Dean Foster, mentions that humans colonized Tatooine in the section introducing the Tusken Raiders. The section implies that humans colonized the planet and settled in the more remote areas of the much sparsely populated planet, which did not give much chance of contact between the Tusken Raiders and the human colonists, who settled on the planet in small numbers.[22]

Also in the same novel, the section introducing the planet Yavin describes it as uninhabitable. Its satellite moons are described as planet sized. The fourth moon called "Yavin IV" as it was named by early human colonizers is described rich with plant and animal life. It describes an ancient civilization that once existed in the jungles of the moon but disappeared centuries before human explorers ever set foot on the moon. The only evidence of their existence the ancient architectural sites and monuments they left behind (as seen in the film), most of which were mysteriously built. At the time the Rebel Alliance used territory on Yavin as their hidden base, the only thing left on the moon was plant, insect and animal life.[23]

Jeanne Cavelos points to the Tales of the Jedi comic book series that document the early colonization of much of the populated Star Wars galaxy. Her argument is that the humans in the Star Wars galaxy being a single species, as well as appearing and living like human beings on Earth, likely originated from a single Earth-like planet, though the exact origin or home world of the human species in the Star Wars universe is not exactly known. She suggests that to be able to colonize other planets, the humans of the Star Wars galaxy could not have been genetically altered. She points to the fact that Luke Skywalker lived his life on Tatooine but did not require any genetic altering to adapt to Hoth, a planet with a climate estimately the opposite of Tatooine.[24]

There are also problems with the possibility of humans altering the climate of the planet they colonize. She mentions the fact that there are native species on planets that humans live on, such as the Jawas alongside the Tusken Raider on Tatooine who survive in the same climate as humans live on. If they lived in another climate prior to human colonization and environmental modification/alternation, such as terraforming, they are unlikely to survive.[24]

Another possibility she suggests is the use of artificial aids that would help the colonists adapting to life on a newly settled planet before gradually adapting to life there. Some variations in climate and gravity would be adaptable to the colonists over a few generations as long as the variations are not too great. Through a period of generations, the colonists would evolve and adapt, even perhaps by evolutionary mutations.[24]

There's also the unlikelihood of other planets having air just like Earth's and automatically being breathable according to other scientists, Cavelos claims. Only a small number of such planets are probable to exist. The chances are greater of finding planets with similar atmospheres that would require minimal atmospheric modification, but unlikely to be identical to Earth's that arriving humans could simply survive on them.[24]

Another issue amongst this is that if human species would be unlikely to encounter a planet with an exact Earth-like environment, it would be even more unlikely for so many different alien species to be of the same environmental background and surviving in the same environmental conditions as seen at the Mos Eisley cantina in A New Hope.[24]

Often, lightsabers are said to be composed of lasers.[25] However, using lasers raises several issues:[26]

The necessity of something to reflect the end of the beam.

Having a compact and powerful enough power source.

Lasers do not clash when their beams cross.

Lasers are silent.

There are some materials that can withstand a lightsaber, and some can even deactivate one upon contact.[dubious– discuss]

Earlier forms of the weapon were known as "protosabers" in the Star Wars galaxy that required battery packs which were connected to the lightsaber hilt through a power cord. The battery pack was attached to a belt worn by the Jedi using the lightsaber, similar to how a flamethrower is worn, but was not ideal as it restricted the Jedi's movements during combat.[27][28]

Lightsabers have been generally explained as plasma kept in a force field, usually an electric or magnetic field.[29][30] Plasma would require the energy that can only be produced by something along the lines of a nuclear reactor, making the power source, again, a problem. Also, the force field could not be magnetic, because the field contains heat, something a magnetic field is incapable of doing. Thus, the force field must be a shield not known by modern technology. Additionally, when two plasma blades would come into direct contact, it would almost certainly result in magnetic reconnection, causing an explosive release of the plasma contained in both sabers.[31]

In the documentary "Can you build a real lightsaber?" theoretical physicist, futurist and science fiction enthusiast, Dr. Michio Kaku, discusses the basic functions and technicalities of lightsabers as well the possibilities and problems of creating them. Dr. Kaku explores the various power sources for lightsabers including lasers, crystals and plasma. Amongst the problems, Kaku points out that lightsaber blades, if produced using modern technology, would not block each other when meeting together as seen in the films during lightsaber duel scenes, because light has no mass or substance like matter. Instead, the blades would pass through one another as normal light beams do. Another discussed problem is how to hold the beams of light in place to produce a blade limited in size as opposed to the endless reaches of normal light if not obstructed by any hard surface or object. If part of a laser beam, the light will simply cut/burn/melt through just about any mass that blocks it.[32]

Kaku tries to resolve this problem by applying the relatively new practice of trapping light. This is done by firing laser photons into a small container filled with gas atoms. A gas atom would grab the light for a very short instant and then pass it onto the next gas atom. Slowing down the light would work, but would create another problem of having a light energy blade with extreme sun-like heat, possibly exposing its hilt and wielder to extreme temperatures and the risk of causing destruction in its environment.[32]

Another suggestion is that the extremely hot lightsaber beam could somehow be contained within a protected space using the same concept of modern laser cutters which use oxygen and heated air as a fuel source that is supplied through tubes and then ionized before being released as plasma beams. Amplifying the amount of energy used for producing these plasma beams while at the same time keeping them in a magnetically controlled space would be ideal for creating a lightsaber. He proposes ceramics as a useful container of heat energy which can withstand up to 4000 degrees of heat without being affected, also which is used by NASA to build spacecraft in order for them to pass through planetary atmospheres without getting burned.[32]

There is still the problem of producing so much energy in such a small mass that a reliable power source would be needed such as a battery, but limited in size to fit the lightsaber handle. One possible solution according to Kaku is a nanotube, while small in size could produce large scales of energy by the use of carbon atoms that can conduct electricity.[32]

Kaku's vision of a lightsaber is a beam of super hot plasma. The handle would be a plasma torch with the base of a dyetanium fan that would shoot about one hundred feet of cubic air per second into the hilt where it would be heated to twelve thousand degrees of plasma which would be kept intact by an electro-magnetic coil. A telescopic ceramic handle would exit the hilt and contain the projected plasma beam by its base with the energy coming from nano batteries stored within the hilt. Kaku argues such an energy beam/blade would also clash with its own kind without the two being able to penetrate one another. At the end of his analysis and lightsaber design in [computerized] blueprint format, Dr. Kaku concludes that lightsabers are theoretically possible, but still require some scientific/technological advancement to function in the same or similar manner as the ones in the Star Wars universe. According to Kaku, it is only a matter of about five decades until the technology can be developed.[32]

A team of scientists from Harvard University claimed to have accidentally produced lightsabers during a physics experiment. While the concept of these "lightsabers" is similar to those as in the Star Wars universe, there are some still significant problems and differences. The photons used in these devices repulsed each other and caused an energy beam, but are still able to pass through one another when two separate beams come into contact, unlike the ones in Star Wars.[33][34]

1.
Space opera
–
Space opera is a subgenre of science fiction that emphasizes space warfare, melodramatic adventure, interplanetary battles, as well as chivalric romance, and often risk-taking. Set mainly or entirely in space, it usually involves conflict between opponents possessing advanced abilities, futuristic weapons, and other sophisticated technology. The term has no relation to music, but is instead a play on the soap opera and horse opera. Space operas emerged in the 1930s and they continue to be produced in literature, film, comics, notable space opera novels include the Foundation series by Isaac Asimov, the Lensman series by E. E. Smith and the Enders Game series by Orson Scott Card. An early notable space opera film was Flash Gordon created by Alex Raymond, in the late 1970s, the Star Wars franchise created by George Lucas brought a great deal of attention to the subgenre. Space opera is defined as an adventure science-fiction story, the term space opera was coined in 1941 by fan writer and author Wilson Tucker as a pejorative term in an article in issue 36 of science fiction fanzine Le Zombie. At the time, serial dramas in the United States had become popularly known as soap operas because many were sponsored by soap manufacturers. Tucker defined space opera as the science fiction equivalent, a hacky, grinding, stinking, outworn, even earlier, the term horse opera had come into use as a term for Western films. Still, during the late 1920s and early 1930s, when the stories were printed in science-fiction magazines, beginning in the 1960s, and widely accepted by the 1970s, the space opera was redefined, following Brian Aldiss definition in Space Opera as the good old stuff. Yet soon after his redefinition, it began to be challenged, for example, by the practice and marketing of Judy-Lynn del Rey and in the reviews of her husband. In particular, they disputed the claims that space operas were obsolete, by the early 1980s, space operas were again redefined, and the label was attached to major popular culture works such as Star Wars. The term space opera began to be recognized only in the early 1990s as a genre of science fiction. It often deals with war, piracy, military virtues, and very large-scale action, early works related to but preceding the subgenre contained many elements of what would become space opera. They are today referred to as proto-space opera, defontenay and Lumen by Camille Flammarion. Not widely popular, proto-space operas were nevertheless occasionally written during the late Victorian and Edwardian science fiction era, examples may be found in the works of Percy Greg, Garrett P. Serviss, George Griffith and Robert Cromie. One critic cites Robert William Coles The Struggle for Empire, A Story of the Year 2236 as the first space opera, the novel does depict an interstellar conflict between solar men of Earth and a fierce humanoid race headquartered on Sirius. Despite this seemingly early beginning, it was not until the late 1920s that the opera proper began to appear regularly in pulp magazines such as Amazing Stories. In film, the genre began with the 1918 Danish film

2.
Interstellar travel
–
Interstellar travel is the term used for hypothetical piloted or unpiloted travel between stars or planetary systems. The speeds required for travel in a human lifetime far exceed what current methods of spacecraft propulsion can provide. Even with a perfectly efficient propulsion system, the kinetic energy corresponding to those speeds is enormous by todays standards of energy production. Moreover, collisions by the spacecraft with cosmic dust and gas can produce very dangerous effects both to passengers and the spacecraft itself. A number of strategies have been proposed to deal with problems, ranging from giant arks that would carry entire societies and ecosystems. For both piloted and unpiloted interstellar travel, considerable technological and economic challenges need to be met, even the most optimistic views about interstellar travel see it as only being feasible decades from now—the more common view is that it is a century or more away. However, in spite of the challenges, if interstellar travel should ever be realized, such a system could grow organically if space-based solar power became a significant component of Earths energy mix. Consumer demand for a system would automatically create the necessary multi-million metric ton/year logistical system. Distances between the planets in the Solar System are often measured in units, defined as the average distance between the Sun and Earth, some 1. 5×108 kilometers. Venus, the closest other planet to Earth is 0.28 AU away, Neptune, the farthest planet from the Sun, is 29.8 AU away. As of December 2016 Voyager 1, the farthest man-made object from Earth, is 137 AU away, the closest known star Proxima Centauri, however, is some 268,332 AU away, or over 9000 times farther away than Neptune. Because of this, distances between stars are expressed in light-years, defined as the distance that a ray of light travels in a year. Light in a vacuum travels around 300,000 kilometers per second, Proxima Centauri is 4.243 light-years away. On this scale, the distance to Alpha Centauri A would be 271 kilometers, the fastest outward-bound spacecraft yet sent, Voyager 1, has covered 1/600th of a light-year in 30 years and is currently moving at 1/18, 000th the speed of light. At this rate, a journey to Proxima Centauri would take 80,000 years, a significant factor contributing to the difficulty is the energy that must be supplied to obtain a reasonable travel time. A lower bound for the energy is the kinetic energy K = 1⁄2 mv2 where m is the final mass. If deceleration on arrival is desired and cannot be achieved by any other than the engines of the ship. The velocity for a round trip of a few decades to even the nearest star is several thousand times greater than those of present space vehicles

3.
Star Wars
–
Star Wars is an American epic space opera franchise, centered on a film series created by George Lucas. It depicts the adventures of characters a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. The franchise began in 1977 with the release of the film Star Wars and it was followed by the successful sequels The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, these three films constitute the original Star Wars trilogy. A prequel trilogy was released between 1999 and 2005, which received mixed-to-negative reactions, a sequel trilogy began in 2015 with the release of Star Wars, The Force Awakens. All seven films were nominated for Academy Awards and have been successes, with a combined box office revenue of over $7.5 billion. Spin-off films include Star Wars, The Clone Wars and Rogue One, Star Wars also holds a Guinness World Records title for the Most successful film merchandising franchise. In 2015, the value of the Star Wars franchise was estimated at USD $42 billion. In 2012, The Walt Disney Company acquired Lucasfilm for $4.06 billion and earned the rights to all subsequent Star Wars films. Walt Disney Studios owns digital distribution rights to all the Star Wars films, the events depicted in the Star Wars franchise take place in an unnamed fictional galaxy at an undetermined point in the distant past. Many species of creatures are depicted. Robotic droids are also commonplace and are built to serve their owners. Space travel is common, and many planets in the galaxy are members of a single galactic government. In the prequel trilogy, this is depicted in the form of the Galactic Republic, at the end of the trilogy and throughout the original trilogy. Preceding and during the trilogy, this government is the New Republic. One of the prominent elements of Star Wars is the Force and it is described in the first produced film as an energy field created by all living things surrounds us, penetrates us, binds the galaxy together. While the Force can be used for good, known as the side, it also has a dark side that, when pursued, imbues users with hatred, aggression. The sequel trilogy introduces the Knights of Ren, an order of practitioners of the side of the Force aligned with the First Order. The first film in the series, Star Wars, was released on May 25,1977 and this was followed by two sequels, The Empire Strikes Back, released on May 21,1980, and Return of the Jedi, released on May 25,1983

4.
Star Wars expanded universe
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The Star Wars expanded universe is a collective term for all Star Wars fictional material produced by Lucasfilm or officially licensed by it. This restructuring left the Star Wars theatrical films, the Clone Wars animated film, a number of works have subsequently been produced, including the Rebels animated TV series, the 2015 film The Force Awakens, and multiple novels and comic book series. Fosters 1978 novel Splinter of the Minds Eye was commissioned by Lucas as the basis for a potential sequel to Star Wars should the film prove unsuccessful. A Star Wars comic book series from Marvel Comics ran from April 1977 to May 1986, former Marvel Editor-In-Chief Jim Shooter credited the titles strong sales for saving Marvel financially in 1977 and 1978. Marvels Star Wars series was one of the top selling titles in 1979 and 1980. The material was used as a resource by some novelists that followed, StarWars. com wrote in 2014 that the novel jumpstarted a publishing program that endures to this day and formalized the Expanded Universe. It introduced, among others, the popular characters Grand Admiral Thrawn and Mara Jade and this so-called Thrawn trilogy is widely credited with revitalizing the Star Wars franchise. In The Secret History of Star Wars, Michael Kaminski suggests that this renewed interest was a factor in Lucass decision to create the prequel trilogy. Around this same time, Dark Horse Comics acquired the Star Wars license and launched a number of series set after the film trilogy. In 1999, Star Wars book publishing moved from Bantam Spectra to Del Rey Books, New Jedi Order, set 25 to 30 years after the original films, introduced a new threat, the Yuuzhan Vong, a powerful alien race attempting to invade and conquer the entire galaxy. The bulk of Expanded Universe storytelling explores the time period after Return of the Jedi, subsequent novels and comics were set before, concurrent with, and after the events of these works. In 2004, USA Today reported that over 1,100 Star Wars titles had been published, including novels, comics, non-fiction, then-president of Lucas Licensing, Howard Roffman, estimated that there were more than 65 million Star Wars books in print. He said, The books are a way of extending the fantasy of Star Wars, the movies have had a really profound effect on a couple of generations. Star Wars has become a cultural touchpoint, and our fans are avidly interested in exploring more stories, the animated television series Star Wars, The Clone Wars ran from 2008 to 2014 and was set between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. Lucas discussed ideas for a sequel trilogy several times after the conclusion of the original trilogy, in October 2012, The Walt Disney Company acquired Lucasfilm for $4.06 billion. In April 2014, Lucasfilm rebranded the Expanded Universe material as Star Wars Legends, the companys focus would be shifted towards a restructured Star Wars canon based on new material. The announcement called these works the immovable objects of Star Wars history and it was also made clear that a planned Star Wars sequel trilogy, and subsequent works developed within the restructured canon, would not be based on Legends material but could possibly draw from it. Lucas had previously used the character Aayla Secura, introduced in 2000 in the Star Wars, Republic comic book series, in Attack of the Clones

5.
Philosophy
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Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems concerning matters such as existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. The term was coined by Pythagoras. Philosophical methods include questioning, critical discussion, rational argument and systematic presentation, classic philosophical questions include, Is it possible to know anything and to prove it. However, philosophers might also pose more practical and concrete questions such as, is it better to be just or unjust. Historically, philosophy encompassed any body of knowledge, from the time of Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle to the 19th century, natural philosophy encompassed astronomy, medicine and physics. For example, Newtons 1687 Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy later became classified as a book of physics, in the 19th century, the growth of modern research universities led academic philosophy and other disciplines to professionalize and specialize. In the modern era, some investigations that were part of philosophy became separate academic disciplines, including psychology, sociology. Other investigations closely related to art, science, politics, or other pursuits remained part of philosophy, for example, is beauty objective or subjective. Are there many scientific methods or just one, is political utopia a hopeful dream or hopeless fantasy. Major sub-fields of academic philosophy include metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, aesthetics, political philosophy, logic, philosophy of science, since the 20th century, professional philosophers contribute to society primarily as professors, researchers and writers. Traditionally, the term referred to any body of knowledge. In this sense, philosophy is related to religion, mathematics, natural science, education. This division is not obsolete but has changed, Natural philosophy has split into the various natural sciences, especially astronomy, physics, chemistry, biology and cosmology. Moral philosophy has birthed the social sciences, but still includes value theory, metaphysical philosophy has birthed formal sciences such as logic, mathematics and philosophy of science, but still includes epistemology, cosmology and others. Many philosophical debates that began in ancient times are still debated today, colin McGinn and others claim that no philosophical progress has occurred during that interval. Chalmers and others, by contrast, see progress in philosophy similar to that in science, in one general sense, philosophy is associated with wisdom, intellectual culture and a search for knowledge. In that sense, all cultures and literate societies ask philosophical questions such as how are we to live, a broad and impartial conception of philosophy then, finds a reasoned inquiry into such matters as reality, morality and life in all world civilizations. Socrates was an influential philosopher, who insisted that he possessed no wisdom but was a pursuer of wisdom

6.
Fictional universe
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A fictional universe is a self-consistent imaginary setting with events, and often other elements, that differ from the real world. It may also be called an imagined, constructed or fictional realm, fictional universes may appear in novels, comics, films, television shows, video games and other creative works. What distinguishes a fictional universe from a setting is the level of detail. A fictional universe has a continuity and internal logic that must be adhered to throughout the work. So, for instance, many books may be set in conflicting fictional versions of Victorian London, however, the various film series based on Sherlock Holmes follow their own separate continuities, and so do not take place in the same fictional universe. The history and geography of a universe are well-defined, and maps. When subsequent works are written within the universe, care is usually taken to ensure that established facts of the canon are not violated. Even if the fictional universe involves concepts such as magic that dont exist in the real world, a famous example of a detailed fictional universe is Arda, of J. R. R. Tolkiens books The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion. He created first its languages and then the world itself, which he states was primarily linguistic in inspiration and was begun in order to provide the history for the Elvish tongues. Another, more recent, famous fictional universe is that of the Avatar film series, as James Cameron has invented an entire ecosystem, also, he commissioned a linguistics expert to invent the Navi language. Virtually every successful fictional TV series or comic book develops its own universe to keep track of the episodes or issues. Writers for that series must follow the story bible, which becomes the series canon. This creates a universe that future authors can write about. These stories about the universe or universes that existed before the retcon are usually not canonical, Crisis on Infinite Earths was an especially sweeping example. Some writers choose to introduce elements or characters from one work into another, for example, the character of Ursula Buffay from American sitcom Mad About You was also a recurring guest star in Friends, despite the two series having little else in common. Fellow NBC series Seinfeld also contained references to Mad About You. L. Frank Baum introduced the characters of Capn Bill and Trot, the two characters made a number of subsequent appearances in later Oz books. Sir Thomas Mores Utopia is one of the earliest examples of a fictional world with its own rules and functional concepts

7.
NASA
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President Dwight D. Eisenhower established NASA in 1958 with a distinctly civilian orientation encouraging peaceful applications in space science. The National Aeronautics and Space Act was passed on July 29,1958, disestablishing NASAs predecessor, the new agency became operational on October 1,1958. Since that time, most US space exploration efforts have led by NASA, including the Apollo Moon landing missions, the Skylab space station. Currently, NASA is supporting the International Space Station and is overseeing the development of the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, the agency is also responsible for the Launch Services Program which provides oversight of launch operations and countdown management for unmanned NASA launches. NASA shares data with various national and international such as from the Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite. Since 2011, NASA has been criticized for low cost efficiency, from 1946, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics had been experimenting with rocket planes such as the supersonic Bell X-1. In the early 1950s, there was challenge to launch a satellite for the International Geophysical Year. An effort for this was the American Project Vanguard, after the Soviet launch of the worlds first artificial satellite on October 4,1957, the attention of the United States turned toward its own fledgling space efforts. This led to an agreement that a new federal agency based on NACA was needed to conduct all non-military activity in space. The Advanced Research Projects Agency was created in February 1958 to develop technology for military application. On July 29,1958, Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act, a NASA seal was approved by President Eisenhower in 1959. Elements of the Army Ballistic Missile Agency and the United States Naval Research Laboratory were incorporated into NASA, earlier research efforts within the US Air Force and many of ARPAs early space programs were also transferred to NASA. In December 1958, NASA gained control of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA has conducted many manned and unmanned spaceflight programs throughout its history. Some missions include both manned and unmanned aspects, such as the Galileo probe, which was deployed by astronauts in Earth orbit before being sent unmanned to Jupiter, the experimental rocket-powered aircraft programs started by NACA were extended by NASA as support for manned spaceflight. This was followed by a space capsule program, and in turn by a two-man capsule program. This goal was met in 1969 by the Apollo program, however, reduction of the perceived threat and changing political priorities almost immediately caused the termination of most of these plans. NASA turned its attention to an Apollo-derived temporary space laboratory, to date, NASA has launched a total of 166 manned space missions on rockets, and thirteen X-15 rocket flights above the USAF definition of spaceflight altitude,260,000 feet. The X-15 was an NACA experimental rocket-powered hypersonic research aircraft, developed in conjunction with the US Air Force, the design featured a slender fuselage with fairings along the side containing fuel and early computerized control systems

8.
Binary star
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A binary star is a star system consisting of two stars orbiting around their common barycenter. Systems of two or more stars are called multiple star systems and these systems, especially when more distant, often appear to the unaided eye as a single point of light, and are then revealed as multiple by other means. Research over the last two centuries suggests that half or more of visible stars are part of star systems. The term double star is used synonymously with binary star, however. Optical doubles are so called because the two stars close together in the sky as seen from the Earth, they are almost on the same line of sight. Nevertheless, their doubleness depends only on this effect, the stars themselves are distant from one another. A double star can be revealed as optical by means of differences in their measurements, proper motions. Most known double stars have not been studied closely to determine whether they are optical doubles or they are doubles physically bound through gravitation into a multiple star system. This also determines an empirical mass-luminosity relationship from which the masses of stars can be estimated. Binary stars are often detected optically, in case they are called visual binaries. Many visual binaries have long periods of several centuries or millennia. They may also be detected by indirect techniques, such as spectroscopy or astrometry, if components in binary star systems are close enough they can gravitationally distort their mutual outer stellar atmospheres. In some cases, these close binary systems can exchange mass, examples of binaries are Sirius, and Cygnus X-1. Binary stars are common as the nuclei of many planetary nebulae. This should be called a double star, and any two stars that are thus mutually connected, form the binary sidereal system which we are now to consider. By the modern definition, the binary star is generally restricted to pairs of stars which revolve around a common center of mass. Binary stars which can be resolved with a telescope or interferometric methods are known as visual binaries, for most of the known visual binary stars one whole revolution has not been observed yet, they are observed to have travelled along a curved path or a partial arc. The more general term double star is used for pairs of stars which are seen to be together in the sky

9.
Exoplanet
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An exoplanet or extrasolar planet is a planet that orbits a star other than the Sun. The first scientific detection of an exoplanet was in 1988, HARPS has discovered about a hundred exoplanets while the Kepler space telescope has found more than two thousand. Kepler has also detected a few thousand candidate planets, of which about 11% may be false positives, on average, there is at least one planet per star, with a percentage having multiple planets. About 1 in 5 Sun-like stars have an Earth-sized planet in the habitable zone, the least massive planet known is Draugr, which is about twice the mass of the Moon. There are planets that are so near to their star that they take only a few hours to orbit, some are so far out that it is difficult to tell whether they are gravitationally bound to the star. Almost all of the planets detected so far are within the Milky Way, the nearest exoplanet is Proxima Centauri b, located 4.2 light-years from Earth and orbiting Proxima Centauri, the closest star to the Sun. The discovery of exoplanets has intensified interest in the search for extraterrestrial life, there is special interest in planets that orbit in a stars habitable zone, where it is possible for liquid water, a prerequisite for life on Earth, to exist on the surface. The study of planetary habitability also considers a range of other factors in determining the suitability of a planet for hosting life. The rogue planets in the Milky Way possibly number in the billions, the convention for designating exoplanets is an extension of the system used for designating multiple-star systems as adopted by the International Astronomical Union. For exoplanets orbiting a star, the designation is normally formed by taking the name or, more commonly, designation of its parent star. The first planet discovered in a system is given the designation b, if several planets in the same system are discovered at the same time, the closest one to the star gets the next letter, followed by the other planets in order of orbital size. A provisional IAU-sanctioned standard exists to accommodate the designation of circumbinary planets, a limited number of exoplanets have IAU-sanctioned proper names. Various detection claims made in the century were rejected by astronomers. The first scientific detection of an exoplanet began in 1988, However, the first confirmed detection came in 1992, with the discovery of several terrestrial-mass planets orbiting the pulsar PSR B1257+12. The first confirmation of an exoplanet orbiting a star was made in 1995. Some exoplanets have been imaged directly by telescopes, but the vast majority have been detected through indirect methods, such as the transit method, in the eighteenth century the same possibility was mentioned by Isaac Newton in the General Scholium that concludes his Principia. Claims of exoplanet detections have been made since the nineteenth century, some of the earliest involve the binary star 70 Ophiuchi. In 1855 William Stephen Jacob at the East India Companys Madras Observatory reported that orbital anomalies made it highly probable that there was a body in this system

10.
Astronomical unit
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The astronomical unit is a unit of length, roughly the distance from Earth to the Sun. However, that varies as Earth orbits the Sun, from a maximum to a minimum. Originally conceived as the average of Earths aphelion and perihelion, it is now defined as exactly 149597870700 metres, the astronomical unit is used primarily as a convenient yardstick for measuring distances within the Solar System or around other stars. However, it is also a component in the definition of another unit of astronomical length. A variety of symbols and abbreviations have been in use for the astronomical unit. In a 1976 resolution, the International Astronomical Union used the symbol A for the astronomical unit, in 2006, the International Bureau of Weights and Measures recommended ua as the symbol for the unit. In 2012, the IAU, noting that various symbols are presently in use for the astronomical unit, in the 2014 revision of the SI Brochure, the BIPM used the unit symbol au. In ISO 80000-3, the symbol of the unit is ua. Earths orbit around the Sun is an ellipse, the semi-major axis of this ellipse is defined to be half of the straight line segment that joins the aphelion and perihelion. The centre of the sun lies on this line segment. In addition, it mapped out exactly the largest straight-line distance that Earth traverses over the course of a year, knowing Earths shift and a stars shift enabled the stars distance to be calculated. But all measurements are subject to some degree of error or uncertainty, improvements in precision have always been a key to improving astronomical understanding. Improving measurements were continually checked and cross-checked by means of our understanding of the laws of celestial mechanics, the expected positions and distances of objects at an established time are calculated from these laws, and assembled into a collection of data called an ephemeris. NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory provides one of several ephemeris computation services, in 1976, in order to establish a yet more precise measure for the astronomical unit, the IAU formally adopted a new definition. Equivalently, by definition, one AU is the radius of an unperturbed circular Newtonian orbit about the sun of a particle having infinitesimal mass. As with all measurements, these rely on measuring the time taken for photons to be reflected from an object. However, for precision the calculations require adjustment for such as the motions of the probe. In addition, the measurement of the time itself must be translated to a scale that accounts for relativistic time dilation

11.
Tatooine
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Tatooine orbits two main sequence binary stars and it has three moons, Ghomrassen, Guermessa and Chenini. Its G-type twin stars heat its surface, making water and shade hard to come by, the planets lack of resources, brutal heat, and decentralized population have made governing the planet nearly impossible. The planet fell into the clutches of the Hutts, a clan of gangsters, since Tatooine was beyond the reach of the Galactic Republic, the Hutts presided over the lawless planet with little outside interference. When the Galactic Empire subsumed the Old Republic, the new regime established only a token presence on Tatooine, Jabba remained the assumed ruler of Tatooine until his death in the Battle of Carkoon. Its name is derived from a city in Tunisia, Tataouine near to where various scenes were filmed, most were planted by an exiled Ithorian. Bestine, the capital of Tatooine, is situated far west of Mos Eisley near the south-western Dune Sea and it was also one of the earliest settlements on the planet but never thrived economically, sharing the same problems as many other settlements on the dry world. The Galactic Empire eventually established its base of operations here and placed its regional governor in the citys Main Hall and it is featured prominently in Star Wars, Galaxies. The Dune Sea is a sandy desert, near the cities of Anchorhead, Mos Eisley. It is inhabited solely by Tusken Raiders, Jawas, wraids, dewbacks, moisture farmers often have many moisture vaporators located in the Dune Sea to collect the scarce water vapor from the air. The Great Pit of Carkoon is located within the Dune Sea and it is a large hollow in the desert sand created by the Sarlacc, a large omnivorous creature that uses the pit to capture prey. The Great Pit of Carkoon is the site of a skirmish that takes place between Luke Skywalker and the forces of Jabba the Hutt, the Hutt crime lord and most of his minions were killed during the battle. Jabbas Palace is located in the known as the Dune Sea and was home to the gangster high boss and crime lord. It is introduced as the setting of the beginning of Return of the Jedi. Jabbas palace is also the setting in Tales From Jabbas Palace, edited by Kevin J.0 and Lego Star Wars III. The palace was originally a monastery built by the mysterious Bomarr monks, Jabbas Palace is very much infamous for bounty hunters, mercenaries, rogues, thieves, and many other known assassins to claim rewards. The Jundland Wastes occupy most of Tatooines temperate area, a region known for its numerous cliffs. Obi-Wan Kenobi lived in a dwelling on the edge of the Jundland Wastes after he took the infant Luke Skywalker to live on a moisture farm with relatives to hide the boy from Darth Vader. This area is also a level in the video games LEGO Star Wars II, The Original Trilogy, LEGO Star Wars, The Complete Saga and Star Wars, Luke Skywalker spent his first nineteen years living with his Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru on a moisture farm

12.
Center of mass
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The distribution of mass is balanced around the center of mass and the average of the weighted position coordinates of the distributed mass defines its coordinates. Calculations in mechanics are simplified when formulated with respect to the center of mass. It is a point where entire mass of an object may be assumed to be concentrated to visualise its motion. In other words, the center of mass is the equivalent of a given object for application of Newtons laws of motion. In the case of a rigid body, the center of mass is fixed in relation to the body. The center of mass may be located outside the body, as is sometimes the case for hollow or open-shaped objects. In the case of a distribution of separate bodies, such as the planets of the Solar System, in orbital mechanics, the equations of motion of planets are formulated as point masses located at the centers of mass. The center of mass frame is a frame in which the center of mass of a system is at rest with respect to the origin of the coordinate system. The concept of center of mass in the form of the center of gravity was first introduced by the ancient Greek physicist, mathematician, and engineer Archimedes of Syracuse. He worked with simplified assumptions about gravity that amount to a uniform field, in work on floating bodies he demonstrated that the orientation of a floating object is the one that makes its center of mass as low as possible. He developed mathematical techniques for finding the centers of mass of objects of uniform density of various well-defined shapes, Newtons second law is reformulated with respect to the center of mass in Eulers first law. The center of mass is the point at the center of a distribution of mass in space that has the property that the weighted position vectors relative to this point sum to zero. In analogy to statistics, the center of mass is the location of a distribution of mass in space. Solving this equation for R yields the formula R =1 M ∑ i =1 n m i r i, solve this equation for the coordinates R to obtain R =1 M ∭ Q ρ r d V, where M is the total mass in the volume. If a continuous mass distribution has density, which means ρ is constant. The center of mass is not generally the point at which a plane separates the distribution of mass into two equal halves, in analogy with statistics, the median is not the same as the mean. The coordinates R of the center of mass of a system, P1 and P2, with masses m1. The percentages of mass at each point can be viewed as projective coordinates of the point R on this line, another way of interpreting the process here is the mechanical balancing of moments about an arbitrary point

13.
Kepler-16b
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It is a Saturn-mass planet consisting of half gas and half rock and ice, and it orbits a binary star, Kepler-16, with a period of 229 days. Kepler-16b was discovered using the space observatory aboard NASAs Kepler spacecraft, scientists were able to detect Kepler-16b using the transit method, when they noticed the dimming of one of the systems stars even when the other was not eclipsing it. For example, Kepler-16bs radius is known to within 0. 3%, Kepler-16b is also unusual in that it falls inside the radius that was thought to be the inner limit for planet formation in a binary star system. Kepler-16bs orbit is only half that distance. As seen from Earth, Kepler-16b ceased transiting the star in 2014. After that, Kepler-16b will remain undetectable using the method until around 2042. Kepler-16b orbits near the edge of the habitable zone. Kepler-16b is a gas giant, an exoplanet that is near the mass and radius as the planets Jupiter. It has a temperature of 188 K, the planet has a radius of 0.77 RJ, slightly larger than Saturn, and has no solid surface. The planet orbits in an orbit around a and binary star system. The stars orbit each other about every 41 days, the stars have masses of 0.68 M☉ and 0.20 M☉ and radii of 0.64 R☉ and 0.22 R☉, respectively. They have surface temperatures of 4450 K and 3311 K, based on the stellar characteristics and orbital dynamics, an estimated age of 2 billion years for the system is possible. In comparison, the Sun is about 4.6 billion years old and has a temperature of 5778 K. The apparent magnitude of the system, or how bright it appears from Earths perspective, is unknown. Kepler-16b orbits around its parent stars with about 14% and 0. 5% of the Suns luminosity, respectively, the habitable zone of the Kepler-16 system extends from approximately 55 to 106 million kilometers away from the binary system. Kepler-16b, with an orbit of about 104 million kilometers, lies near the edge of this habitable zone. Simulations suggest that a moon with a period less than about 45 to 60 days will remain safely bound to a massive giant planet or brown dwarf that orbits 1 AU from a Sun-like star. In the case of Kepler-47c, this would be practically the same to have a stable orbit, to support an Earth-like atmosphere for about 4.6 billion years, the moon would have to have a Mars-like density and at least a mass of 0.07 M⊕

14.
Gravity
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Gravity, or gravitation, is a natural phenomenon by which all things with mass are brought toward one another, including planets, stars and galaxies. Since energy and mass are equivalent, all forms of energy, including light, on Earth, gravity gives weight to physical objects and causes the ocean tides. Gravity has a range, although its effects become increasingly weaker on farther objects. The most extreme example of this curvature of spacetime is a hole, from which nothing can escape once past its event horizon. More gravity results in time dilation, where time lapses more slowly at a lower gravitational potential. Gravity is the weakest of the four fundamental interactions of nature, the gravitational attraction is approximately 1038 times weaker than the strong force,1036 times weaker than the electromagnetic force and 1029 times weaker than the weak force. As a consequence, gravity has an influence on the behavior of subatomic particles. On the other hand, gravity is the dominant interaction at the macroscopic scale, for this reason, in part, pursuit of a theory of everything, the merging of the general theory of relativity and quantum mechanics into quantum gravity, has become an area of research. While the modern European thinkers are credited with development of gravitational theory, some of the earliest descriptions came from early mathematician-astronomers, such as Aryabhata, who had identified the force of gravity to explain why objects do not fall out when the Earth rotates. Later, the works of Brahmagupta referred to the presence of force, described it as an attractive force. Modern work on gravitational theory began with the work of Galileo Galilei in the late 16th and this was a major departure from Aristotles belief that heavier objects have a higher gravitational acceleration. Galileo postulated air resistance as the reason that objects with less mass may fall slower in an atmosphere, galileos work set the stage for the formulation of Newtons theory of gravity. In 1687, English mathematician Sir Isaac Newton published Principia, which hypothesizes the inverse-square law of universal gravitation. Newtons theory enjoyed its greatest success when it was used to predict the existence of Neptune based on motions of Uranus that could not be accounted for by the actions of the other planets. Calculations by both John Couch Adams and Urbain Le Verrier predicted the position of the planet. A discrepancy in Mercurys orbit pointed out flaws in Newtons theory, the issue was resolved in 1915 by Albert Einsteins new theory of general relativity, which accounted for the small discrepancy in Mercurys orbit. The simplest way to test the equivalence principle is to drop two objects of different masses or compositions in a vacuum and see whether they hit the ground at the same time. Such experiments demonstrate that all objects fall at the rate when other forces are negligible

15.
Doppler effect
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The Doppler effect is the change in frequency or wavelength of a wave for an observer moving relative to its source. It is named after the Austrian physicist Christian Doppler, who proposed it in 1842 in Prague, a common example of Doppler shift is the change of pitch heard when a vehicle sounding a siren or horn approaches, passes, and recedes from an observer. Compared to the frequency, the received frequency is higher during the approach, identical at the instant of passing by. When the source of the waves is moving towards the observer, therefore, each wave takes slightly less time to reach the observer than the previous wave. Hence, the time between the arrival of successive wave crests at the observer is reduced, causing an increase in the frequency, while they are travelling, the distance between successive wave fronts is reduced, so the waves bunch together. The distance between wave fronts is then increased, so the waves spread out. For waves that propagate in a medium, such as sound waves, the total Doppler effect may therefore result from motion of the source, motion of the observer, or motion of the medium. Each of these effects is analyzed separately, for waves which do not require a medium, such as light or gravity in general relativity, only the relative difference in velocity between the observer and the source needs to be considered. Doppler first proposed this effect in 1842 in his treatise Über das farbige Licht der Doppelsterne und einiger anderer Gestirne des Himmels, the hypothesis was tested for sound waves by Buys Ballot in 1845. He confirmed that the pitch was higher than the emitted frequency when the sound source approached him. Hippolyte Fizeau discovered independently the same phenomenon on electromagnetic waves in 1848, in Britain, John Scott Russell made an experimental study of the Doppler effect. The frequency is decreased if either is moving away from the other, the above formula assumes that the source is either directly approaching or receding from the observer. If the source approaches the observer at an angle, the frequency that is first heard is higher than the objects emitted frequency. When the observer is close to the path of the object. When the observer is far from the path of the object, to understand what happens, consider the following analogy. Someone throws one ball every second at a man, assume that balls travel with constant velocity. If the thrower is stationary, the man will receive one every second. However, if the thrower is moving towards the man, he will receive balls more frequently because the balls will be spaced out

16.
The Guardian
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The Guardian is a British daily newspaper, known from 1821 until 1959 as the Manchester Guardian. Along with its sister papers The Observer and The Guardian Weekly, The Guardian is part of the Guardian Media Group, the Scott Trust became a limited company in 2008, with a constitution to maintain the same protections for The Guardian. Profits are reinvested in journalism rather than to the benefit of an owner or shareholders, the Guardian is edited by Katharine Viner, who succeeded Alan Rusbridger in 2015. In 2016, The Guardians print edition had a daily circulation of roughly 162,000 copies in the country, behind The Daily Telegraph. The newspaper has an online UK edition as well as two international websites, Guardian Australia and Guardian US, the newspapers online edition was the fifth most widely read in the world in October 2014, with over 42.6 million readers. Its combined print and online editions reach nearly 9 million British readers, notable scoops include the 2011 News International phone hacking scandal, in particular the hacking of murdered English teenager Milly Dowlers phone. The investigation led to the closure of the UKs biggest selling Sunday newspaper, and one of the highest circulation newspapers in the world, in 2016, it led the investigation into the Panama Papers, exposing the then British Prime Minister David Camerons links to offshore bank accounts. The Guardian has been named Newspaper of the Year four times at the annual British Press Awards, the paper is still occasionally referred to by its nickname of The Grauniad, given originally for the purported frequency of its typographical errors. The Manchester Guardian was founded in Manchester in 1821 by cotton merchant John Edward Taylor with backing from the Little Circle and they launched their paper after the police closure of the more radical Manchester Observer, a paper that had championed the cause of the Peterloo Massacre protesters. They do not toil, neither do they spin, but they better than those that do. When the government closed down the Manchester Observer, the champions had the upper hand. The influential journalist Jeremiah Garnett joined Taylor during the establishment of the paper, the prospectus announcing the new publication proclaimed that it would zealously enforce the principles of civil and religious Liberty. Warmly advocate the cause of Reform, endeavour to assist in the diffusion of just principles of Political Economy and. Support, without reference to the party from which they emanate, in 1825 the paper merged with the British Volunteer and was known as The Manchester Guardian and British Volunteer until 1828. The working-class Manchester and Salford Advertiser called the Manchester Guardian the foul prostitute, the Manchester Guardian was generally hostile to labours claims. The Manchester Guardian dismissed strikes as the work of outside agitators –, if an accommodation can be effected, the occupation of the agents of the Union is gone. CP Scott made the newspaper nationally recognised and he was editor for 57 years from 1872, and became its owner when he bought the paper from the estate of Taylors son in 1907. Under Scott, the moderate editorial line became more radical, supporting William Gladstone when the Liberals split in 1886

17.
Kepler (spacecraft)
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Kepler is a space observatory launched by NASA to discover Earth-size planets orbiting other stars. Named after astronomer Johannes Kepler, the spacecraft was launched on March 7,2009 and these data are transmitted to Earth, then analyzed to detect periodic dimming caused by exoplanets that cross in front of their host star. Kepler is part of NASAs Discovery Program of relatively low-cost, focused primary science missions, the telescopes construction and initial operation were managed by NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory, with Ball Aerospace responsible for developing the Kepler flight system. The Ames Research Center is responsible for the system development, mission operations since December 2009. The initial planned lifetime was 3.5 years, but greater-than-expected noise in the data, then, on May 11,2013, a second reaction wheel failed, disabling the collection of science data and threatening the continuation of the mission. On August 15,2013, NASA announced that they had given up trying to fix the two failed reaction wheels and this meant the current mission needed to be modified, but it did not necessarily mean the end of planet hunting. NASA had asked the space science community to propose alternative mission plans potentially including an exoplanet search, on November 18,2013, the K2 Second Light proposal was reported. This would include utilizing the disabled Kepler in a way that could detect habitable planets around smaller, dimmer red dwarfs, on May 16,2014, NASA announced the approval of the K2 extension. As of January 2015, Kepler and its follow-up observations had found 1,013 confirmed exoplanets in about 440 star systems, four planets have been confirmed through Keplers K2 mission. It is estimated that 11 billion of these planets may be orbiting Sun-like stars, the nearest such planet may be 3.7 parsecs away, according to the scientists. On January 6,2015, NASA announced the 1, 000th confirmed exoplanet discovered by the Kepler Space Telescope, on May 10,2016, NASA verified 1,284 new exoplanets found by Kepler, the single largest finding of planets to date. Since 1988, over 3,000 exoplanets have been confirmed by all detection methods, the spacecraft has a 115 deg2 field of view, roughly equivalent to the size of ones fist held at arms length. Of this,105 deg2 is of quality, with less than 11% vignetting. The photometer has a focus to provide excellent photometry, rather than sharp images. The mission goal is a combined differential photometric precision of 20 ppm for a m=12 Sun-like star for a 6. 5-hour integration, an Earth-size planet transit produces a brightness change of 84 ppm and lasts for thirteen hours when it crosses the midline of the star. The array is cooled by heat pipes connected to an external radiator, the CCDs are read out every six seconds and co-added on board for 58.89 seconds for short cadence targets, and 1765.5 seconds for long cadence targets. Due to the bandwidth requirements for the former, these are limited in number to 512 compared to 170,000 for long cadence. However, even though at launch Kepler had the highest data rate of any NASA mission, therefore, the science team has pre-selected the relevant pixels associated with each star of interest, amounting to about 6 percent of the pixels

18.
Astrophysicist
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Astrophysics is the branch of astronomy that employs the principles of physics and chemistry to ascertain the nature of the heavenly bodies, rather than their positions or motions in space. Among the objects studied are the Sun, other stars, galaxies, extrasolar planets, the interstellar medium and their emissions are examined across all parts of the electromagnetic spectrum, and the properties examined include luminosity, density, temperature, and chemical composition. In practice, modern astronomical research often involves an amount of work in the realms of theoretical and observational physics. Although astronomy is as ancient as recorded history itself, it was separated from the study of terrestrial physics. Their challenge was that the tools had not yet been invented with which to prove these assertions, for much of the nineteenth century, astronomical research was focused on the routine work of measuring the positions and computing the motions of astronomical objects. Kirchhoff deduced that the lines in the solar spectrum are caused by absorption by chemical elements in the Solar atmosphere. In this way it was proved that the elements found in the Sun. Among those who extended the study of solar and stellar spectra was Norman Lockyer and he thus claimed the line represented a new element, which was called helium, after the Greek Helios, the Sun personified. By 1890, a catalog of over 10,000 stars had been prepared that grouped them into thirteen spectral types, most significantly, she discovered that hydrogen and helium were the principal components of stars. This discovery was so unexpected that her dissertation readers convinced her to modify the conclusion before publication, however, later research confirmed her discovery. By the end of the 20th century, studies of astronomical spectra had expanded to cover wavelengths extending from radio waves through optical, x-ray and it is the practice of observing celestial objects by using telescopes and other astronomical apparatus. The majority of observations are made using the electromagnetic spectrum. Radio astronomy studies radiation with a greater than a few millimeters. The study of these waves requires very large radio telescopes, infrared astronomy studies radiation with a wavelength that is too long to be visible to the naked eye but is shorter than radio waves. Infrared observations are made with telescopes similar to the familiar optical telescopes. Objects colder than stars are studied at infrared frequencies. Optical astronomy is the oldest kind of astronomy, telescopes paired with a charge-coupled device or spectroscopes are the most common instruments used. The Earths atmosphere interferes somewhat with optical observations, so adaptive optics, in this wavelength range, stars are highly visible, and many chemical spectra can be observed to study the chemical composition of stars, galaxies and nebulae

19.
Proxima Centauri
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Proxima Centauri or Alpha Centauri C is a red dwarf, a small low-mass star, about 4.25 light-years from the Sun in the constellation of Centaurus. It was discovered in 1915 by the Scottish astronomer Robert Innes, the Director of the Union Observatory in South Africa, with an apparent magnitude of 11.05, it is too faint to be seen with the naked eye. Proxima Centauri forms a component of the Alpha Centauri binary star system, currently with a separation of about 13000+300 −100 AU. Because of Proxima Centauris proximity to Earth, its diameter can be measured directly. It is about one-seventh the diameter of the Sun and it has a mass about an eighth of the Suns mass, and its average density is about 40 times that of the Sun. Although it has a low average luminosity, Proxima is a flare star that undergoes random dramatic increases in brightness because of magnetic activity. The stars magnetic field is created by convection throughout the body. In 2016, the European Southern Observatory announced the discovery of Proxima b and its estimated mass is at least 1.3 times that of the Earth. Previous searches for orbiting companions had ruled out the presence of brown dwarfs, in 1915, the Scottish astronomer Robert Innes, Director of the Union Observatory in Johannesburg, South Africa, discovered a star that had the same proper motion as Alpha Centauri. He suggested that it be named Proxima Centauri and it was also found to be the lowest-luminosity star known at the time. An equally accurate parallax determination of Proxima Centauri was made by American astronomer Harold L. Alden in 1928, in 1951, American astronomer Harlow Shapley announced that Proxima Centauri is a flare star. Examination of past photographic records showed that the star displayed an increase in magnitude on about 8% of the images. The proximity of the star allows for detailed observation of its flare activity, in 1980, the Einstein Observatory produced a detailed X-ray energy curve of a stellar flare on Proxima Centauri. Further observations of flare activity were made with the EXOSAT and ROSAT satellites, Proxima Centauri has since been the subject of study by most X-ray observatories, including XMM-Newton and Chandra. In 2016, the International Astronomical Union organized a Working Group on Star Names to catalogue, the WGSN approved the name Proxima Centauri for this star on 21 August 2016 and it is now so entered in the IAU Catalog of Star Names. Because of Proxima Centauris southern declination, it can only be viewed south of latitude 27° N, Red dwarfs such as Proxima Centauri are far too faint to be seen with the naked eye. Even from Alpha Centauri A or B, Proxima would only be seen as a fifth magnitude star, Proxima Centauri is a red dwarf, because it belongs to the main sequence on the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram and is of spectral class M6. M6 means that it falls in the end of M-type stars

20.
Alpha Centauri
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Alpha Centauri is a star system in the Orion Arm of the Milky Way galaxy, and is the closest star system to the Solar System, being 4.37 light-years from the Sun. It consists of three stars, the pair Alpha Centauri A and Alpha Centauri B together with a small and faint red dwarf, Alpha Centauri C, that may be gravitationally bound to the other two. Alpha Centauri A has 1.1 times the mass and 1.519 times the luminosity of the Sun, while Alpha Centauri B is smaller and cooler, at 0.907 times the Suns mass and 0.445 times its visual luminosity. During the pairs 79. 91-year orbit about a common centre, Proxima Centauri is at the slightly smaller distance of 4.24 light-years from the Sun, making it the closest star to the Sun, even though it is not visible to the naked eye. The separation of Proxima from Alpha Centauri AB is about 15,000 astronomical units, α Centauri is the systems Bayer designation. It bore the traditional name Rigil Kentaurus, which is a latinisation of the Arabic name رجل القنطورس Rijl al-Qanṭūris, meaning Foot of the Centaur. Alpha Centauri C was discovered in 1915 by the Scottish astronomer Robert Innes, Director of the Union Observatory in Johannesburg, South Africa, the name is from Latin, meaning nearest of Centaurus. In 2016, the International Astronomical Union organized a Working Group on Star Names to catalog, the WGSN states that in the case of multiple stars the name should be understood to be attributed to the brightest component by visual brightness. The WGSN approved the name Proxima Centauri for Alpha Centauri C on 21 August 2016 and they are now both so entered in the IAU Catalog of Star Names. Alpha Centauri is the given to what appears as a single star to the naked eye. At −0.27 apparent visual magnitude, it is fainter only than Sirius and Canopus, the next-brightest star in the night sky is Arcturus. Alpha Centauri is a system, with its two main stars being Alpha Centauri A and Alpha Centauri B, usually defined to identify them as the different components of the binary α Cen AB. A third companion—Proxima Centauri —has a distance greater than the observed separation between stars A and B and is probably gravitationally associated with the AB system. As viewed from Earth, it is located at a separation of 2. 2° from the two main stars. Proxima Centauri would appear to the eye as a separate star from α Cen AB if it were bright enough to be seen without a telescope. Alpha Centauri AB and Proxima Centauri form a double star. Direct evidence that Proxima Centauri has an orbit typical of binary stars has yet to be found. Together, the three make a triple star system, referred to by double-star observers as the triple star

21.
Polish Academy of Sciences
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The Polish Academy of Sciences, headquartered in Warsaw, is Polands top academy of sciences. It is responsible for spearheading the development of science across the country by a society of distinguished scholars as well as a network of research institutes and it was established in 1951, during the early period of the Polish Peoples Republic following World War II. The Polish Academy of Sciences functions as a learned society acting through a corporation of leading scholars. The Academy has also, operating through its committees, become a scientific advisory body. Another aspect of the Academy is its coordination and overseeing of numerous research institutes, PAN institutes employ over 2,000 people, and are funded by about a third of the Polish governments budget for science. In 1989, the Polish Academy of Learning in Kraków, resumed its independent existence, separate from the Polish Academy of Sciences, in Warsaw

22.
University of Warsaw
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The University of Warsaw, established in 1816, is the largest university in Poland. It employs over 6,000 staff including over 3,100 academic educators and it provides graduate courses for 53,000 students. The University offers some 37 different fields of study,18 faculties and over 100 specializations in Humanities and it was founded as a Royal University on 19 November 1816, when the Partitions of Poland separated Warsaw from the oldest and most influential University of Kraków. Tsar Alexander I granted permission for the establishment of five faculties – law and political science, medicine, philosophy, theology, the university expanded rapidly, but was closed during November Uprising in 1830. It was reopened in 1857 under the name Akademia Medyko-Chirurgiczna based in the nearby Staszic Palace with only medical and pharmaceutical faculties, over 70% of students were of Polish nationality, but after the revolution in 1905, the proportion dropped below 10% as a result of the boycott. The university was resurrected during the First World War and the number of students in 1918 was estimated at 4,500, after Polands independence in 1918 the new government focused on improving the university, and in the early 1930s it became the countrys largest. New faculties were established and the curriculum was extended, the university was named after Chief-of-State and Marshal of Poland Józef Piłsudski after his death in 1935. Following the Second World War and the devastation of Warsaw, the University successfully reopened in 1945, the University of Warsaw is one of the top Polish universities. It was ranked by Perspektywy magazine as best Polish university in 2010,2011 and 2014, international rankings such as ARWU and University Web Ranking rank the university as the best Polish higher level institution. On the list of 100 best European universities compiled by University Web Ranking, QS World University Rankings positioned the University of Warsaw as the best higher level institution among the worlds top 400. In 1795 the partitions of Poland left Warsaw with access only to the Academy of Vilnius, in 1815, the newly established autonomous Congress Poland de facto belonging to the Russian Empire found itself without a university at all, as Vilnius was incorporated into Russia. The first to be established in Congress Poland were the Law School, in 1816 Tsar Alexander I permitted the Polish authorities to create a university, comprising five departments, Law and Administration, Medicine, Philosophy, Theology, and Art and Humanities. The university soon grew to 800 students and 50 professors, after most of the students and professors took part in the November 1830 Uprising the university was closed down. After the Crimean War, Russia entered a period of liberalization. In 1862 departments of Law and Administration, Philology and History, the newly established academy gained importance and was soon renamed the Main School. However, after the January 1863 Uprising the liberal period ended, during its short existence, the Main School educated over 3,000 students, many of whom became part of the backbone of the Polish intelligentsia. The Main School was replaced with a Russian-language Imperial University of Warsaw and its purpose was to provide education for the Russian military garrison of Warsaw, the majority of students were Poles. The tsarist authorities believed that the Russian university would become a way to Russify Polish society

23.
The Force Awakens
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Star Wars, The Force Awakens is a 2015 American epic space opera film directed, co-produced, and co-written by J. J. Abrams. The Force Awakens was announced after The Walt Disney Companys acquisition of Lucasfilm in October 2012 and it was produced by Abrams, his longtime collaborator Bryan Burk, and Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy. Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan, co-writer of the trilogy films The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. John Williams, composer for the six films, returned to compose the films score. Lucas served as consultant during the films early production. Filming began in April 2014 in Abu Dhabi and Iceland, with photography also taking place in Ireland and Pinewood Studios in England. It is the first live-action film in the franchise since Star Wars, Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, Star Wars, The Force Awakens was widely anticipated, and Disney backed the film with extensive marketing campaigns. It premiered in Los Angeles on December 14,2015, four days before its release worldwide. It received five Academy Award nominations and four British Academy Film Award nominations, two sequels, Star Wars, The Last Jedi and Episode IX, are scheduled for release in 2017 and 2019, respectively. Three decades after the destruction of the second Death Star, the First Order has risen from the fallen Galactic Empire, the Resistance, backed by the Republic and led by General Leia Organa, opposes them while searching for her brother, Luke Skywalker, to enlist his aid. Resistance pilot Poe Dameron meets village elder Lor San Tekka on the planet Jakku to obtain a map to Lukes location, stormtroopers commanded by Kylo Ren destroy the village and capture Poe, while Ren kills Tekka. Poes droid, BB-8, escapes with the map and encounters a scavenger named Rey near a junkyard settlement, Ren tortures Poe using the Force, and learns of BB-8. Stormtrooper FN-2187, unwilling to kill, frees Poe, and they escape in a stolen TIE fighter and they crash on Jakku, and Finn survives, but Poe is believed to have been killed in the crash. Finn encounters Rey and BB-8, but the First Order tracks them, Finn, Rey, and BB-8 flee the planet in the Millennium Falcon, which they steal from a junkyard. The Falcon is captured by a ship piloted by Han Solo and Chewbacca. Two rival gangs, seeking to settle debts with Han, board and attack, the gangs inform the First Order. At the First Orders Starkiller Base – a planet converted into a superweapon that harnesses energy from stars – Supreme Leader Snoke orders General Hux to use the weapon for the first time. Snoke questions Rens ability to deal with emotions relating to his father, Han Solo, the Falcon crew views BB-8s map and determines it is incomplete

24.
Stormtrooper (Star Wars)
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A stormtrooper is a fictional soldier in the Star Wars franchise created by George Lucas. In The Force Awakens, the upgraded stormtroopers serve the First Order, under the leadership of Supreme Leader Snoke and his commanders, most notably Kylo Ren, General Hux, the order of battle of the Stormtrooper Corps is unspecified in the Star Wars universe. They are shown in collective groups of varying organizational sizes ranging from squads to legions and for some, their armor and training are modified for special operations and environments. Introduced in Star Wars, the Imperial stormtroopers serve as the army of the Galactic Empire, establishing Imperial authority and putting down any revolts. In the prequel film Star Wars, Episode II – Attack of the Clones, in Star Wars, Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, Chancellor Palpatine orders them to slay their Jedi generals in the Great Jedi Purge. As established in Star Wars, The Force Awakens, after Palpatines death the stormtroopers continue to serve under the factions that broke apart from the Empire, with redesigned armor, they eventually serve under the leadership of the First Order. In this film, it is established that an undisclosed number of stormtroopers were conscripted as young children, given serial numbers for names. Stormtrooper FN-2187, later known as Finn, plans his escape when his resistance to this conditioning puts him in line to be reprogrammed, Star Wars Legends expanded universe media such as games and comics feature a number of specialized stormtrooper units. The Marvel-produced comics of the late 1970s and early 1980s featured Shadow Troopers, others, such as the Beach Troopers, are for comical effect. Appearing only briefly in Lego Star Wars II, The Original Trilogy, they are clad in a Speedo, in Lego Star Wars, The Complete Saga, they also wear life jackets. Shadowtroopers appear in Star Wars Jedi Knight II, Jedi Outcast wearing black armour made from a lightsaber-resistant metal called cortosis and this armour has a green synthetic gem set into the breastplate which gives the wearer Force powers. Their armour can also render them invisible, with only a small area of blue discoloration giving them away. They use this ability to lie in wait and ambush the enemy, most often the games protagonist and these troopers also possess the invisible feature and use this tactic to ambush their enemies, but only if stormtrooper officers call out for support. Disloyalty or failures were heavily punished and individualism was discouraged, command structure was sacred and this meant Imperial Stormtroopers lacked improvisation and were highly ineffective when cut off from command, but also allowed the best trained soldiers who prefer death over retreat. First Order Stormtroopers are regularly put through mental indoctrination and propaganda programs, to make sure that they remain fanatically loyal, being taken from their families at birth, these soldiers are not even given individual names for themselves but merely serial numbers, such as FN-2187. Based on conceptual drawings by Ralph McQuarrie, Liz Moore and Nick Pemberton sculpted designs for the helmet, Muir, who was also responsible for sculpting the Darth Vader costume, worked out of the Art Department at Elstree Studios. The suit was molded and initially cast in plaster, with Muir sharpening the detail at the plaster stage, the plaster casts were then remolded and cast in fiberglass to use as the tools for the vacuum forming process. The suits were produced in house by Tashy Baines, the resident vacuum former, as Shepperton Design Studios had already been used to vacuum form the helmets, the fiberglass molds for the armor were then sent to them for vacuum forming the suits

25.
Chewbacca
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Chewbacca, nicknamed Chewie, is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise. He is a Wookiee, a tall, hirsute biped and intelligent species from the planet Kashyyyk, Chewbacca is the loyal friend and associate of Han Solo, and serves as co-pilot on Solos spaceship, the Millennium Falcon. The character has appeared on television, in books, comics. To repay this debt, Chewbacca protected Han for the rest of his life, standing at 8 feet tall, Chewbacca is covered with long hair, and wears only a bandolier. His weapon of choice is the Wookiee bowcaster, Chewbacca was named one of the greatest sidekicks in film history by Entertainment Weekly. In Italy the name of Chewbacca was changed to Chewbecca and his nickname is Chewbe, Chewbaccas creation as a gentle, hairy, non-English-speaking co-pilot was inspired by George Lucas seeing his own dog sitting up on the passenger seat of his car. It is said that Chewbaccas name is derived from собака, the Russian word for dog, in all five screen appearances, Chewbacca was played by Peter Mayhew, who was chosen for his height of 73. Five identical costumes were made for Mayhew, in the three films and a holiday special, the suits were made of yak hair and mohair. In Revenge of the Sith, the suit was made of more comfortable materials, only Mayhews blue eyes could be seen in his costume, but fans easily recognize him by his gestures, and his co-workers claimed the ability to tell when a stand-in was taking his place. Chewbaccas voice was created by the films sound designer, Ben Burtt, from recordings of walruses, lions, camels, bears, rabbits, tigers. The individual recordings were mixed at different ratios for Chewbaccas different utterances, one of the most prominent elements in the voice was a black bear named Tarik, from Happy Hollow Zoo in San Jose, California. The original costume was created by Stuart Freeborn and his wife Kay Freeborn, First appearing in Star Wars, Chewbacca and Han Solo accept a charter to take Luke Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and droids C-3PO and R2-D2 to the planet Alderaan. When they find the destroyed by the Death Star, the two smugglers are drawn into the Rebel Alliance. As part of a plan to rescue Leia, Luke tries to put handcuffs on Chewbacca to make it look like hes a prisoner. Chewbacca almost attacks Luke believing him to be selling him and Solo out, after rescuing Leia and taking her to the rebel base on Yavin IV, the two smugglers are given reward money in the value of a payload lost by him to which he owes Jabba The Hutt. Somehow, Chewbacca is able to convince Han to put his debt to Jabba aside for the time being and they manage to save Luke from being killed, also allowing him to be the one to destroy the space station. In The Empire Strikes Back, Chewbacca finds a dismantled C-3PO in a pile in Cloud City. He later tries to him, but does a terrible job at it

26.
Kylo Ren
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Kylo Ren is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise. Introduced in the 2015 film Star Wars, The Force Awakens, Kylo Ren is the chosen name of Ben Solo, the son of original Star Wars trilogy characters Han Solo and Leia Organa. Though trained by his uncle Luke Skywalker as a Jedi, he has been seduced to the side of the Force by Supreme Leader Snoke. Kylo Ren is also the master of the Knights of Ren, and a commander for the First Order and he is featured in The Force Awakens media and merchandising, and will appear in the films forthcoming sequel, Star Wars, The Last Jedi. According to director Abrams, the First Order is inspired by ODESSA, Drivers casting in the film in an unnamed role was first announced on April 29,2014. Kylo Ren was first seen, but still not named, in the 88-second The Force Awakens teaser trailer released by Lucasfilm on November 28,2014, the name Kylo Ren was revealed by Entertainment Weekly in a Lucasfilm-designed Topps-style trading card mockup in December 2014. A May 2015 Vanity Fair photo shoot by Annie Leibovitz confirmed that Driver would be portraying Kylo, in an interview with Time, The Force Awakens costume designer Michael Kaplan said that Abrams requested that Rens mask be designed to be memorable for a child. After numerous attempts to gain Abrams approval, the design was selected. Kaplan said, I dont know if it was the kind of spaghetti type lines on it or what, also the silver in those lines kind of reflects and changes color with the action. You know, if hes standing in front of fire you see that, Abrams told Entertainment Weekly in August 2015, The movie explains the origins of the mask and where its from, but the design was meant to be a nod to the Vader mask. According to other cast members, Driver is a method actor, Rens character arc shares similarities with that of the Star Wars expanded universe character Jacen Solo, the son of Han Solo and Princess Leia who threatens the galaxy as a fallen Jedi. Additionally, critics have noted a resemblance between Rens character design and that of Revan, the protagonist of Knights of the Old Republic, Abrams told Empire in August 2015, Kylo Ren is not a Sith. He works under Supreme Leader Snoke, who is a figure on the Dark Side of the Force. Abrams had previously told Entertainment Weekly that the character came to the name Kylo Ren when he joined a group called the Knights of Ren. Robbie Collin of The Telegraph described Ren as a hot-headed, radicalised Dark Side jihadi, whose red lightsaber splutters, Abrams noted, The lightsaber is something that he built himself, and is as dangerous and as fierce and as ragged as the character. The Telegraph also explains that Rens wild and erratic temper and angsty instability make him dangerous, melissa Leon of The Daily Beast describes Rens use of the Force formidable, citing his ability to stop a blaster shot mid-air, immobilize victims and probe their minds against their will. Kasdan told Entertainment Weekly in August 2015, Ive written four Star Wars movies now, I think youre going to see something thats brand new to the saga, noting that the character is full of emotion. Abrams explained, I think that what makes Ren so unique is that he isnt as fully formed as when we meet a character such as Darth Vader and he is not your prototypical mustache-twirling bad guy

27.
The Empire Strikes Back
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The Empire Strikes Back is a 1980 American epic space opera film directed by Irvin Kershner. Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan wrote the screenplay, with George Lucas writing the films story, the film is set three years after Star Wars. The Galactic Empire, under the leadership of the villainous Darth Vader and the Emperor, is in pursuit of Luke Skywalker, while Vader chases a small band of Lukes friends—Han Solo, Princess Leia Organa, and others—across the galaxy, Luke studies the Force under Jedi Master Yoda. When Vader captures Lukes friends, Luke must decide whether to complete his training and become a full Jedi Knight or to confront Vader, following a difficult production, The Empire Strikes Back was released on May 21,1980. The film ranks #3 on Empires 2008 list of the 500 greatest movies of all time and it became the highest-grossing film of 1980 and, to date, has earned more than $538 million worldwide from its original run and several re-releases. When adjusted for inflation, it is the sequel of all time. The film was followed by a sequel, titled Return of the Jedi, in 2010, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for being culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant. Three years after the destruction of the Death Star, the Rebel Alliance has been driven from their base on Yavin IV by the Galactic Empire. The Rebels, led by Princess Leia, have set up their new base on the ice planet Hoth, the Imperial fleet, led by Darth Vader, continues to hunt for the Rebels’ new base by dispatching probe droids across the galaxy. While investigating a meteor strike, Luke Skywalker is injured and captured by a wampa. He manages to escape from its cave with his lightsaber, the ghost of his late mentor, Obi-Wan Kenobi, instructs him to go to the Dagobah system to train under Jedi Master Yoda. He is found by Han Solo, who kills his tauntaun, Han and Luke make it through the night and are rescued by a search party. On patrol, Han and Chewbacca discover the meteor Luke had planned to investigate is actually a probe droid, the Empire launches a large-scale attack, using AT-AT Walkers to capture the base. Despite heavy resistance, the Walkers destroy the shield generator. Han and Leia escape on the Millennium Falcon with C-3PO and Chewbacca and they hide in an asteroid field, where Han and Leia grow closer, and eventually, kiss. Vader summons bounty hunters, including the notorious Boba Fett, to assist in finding the Falcon, Luke, meanwhile, escapes with R2-D2 in his X-wing fighter and crash-lands on the swamp planet Dagobah. He meets a creature who is revealed to be Yoda, after conferring with Obi-Wans spirit. Yoda trains Luke as a Jedi and raises his sunken ship from the swamp with the power of the Force, after evading the Empire, Han sets a course for Cloud City, a floating colony in the skies of the gas giant planet Bespin

28.
Battle of Hoth
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The Empire Strikes Back is a 1980 American epic space opera film directed by Irvin Kershner. Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan wrote the screenplay, with George Lucas writing the films story, the film is set three years after Star Wars. The Galactic Empire, under the leadership of the villainous Darth Vader and the Emperor, is in pursuit of Luke Skywalker, while Vader chases a small band of Lukes friends—Han Solo, Princess Leia Organa, and others—across the galaxy, Luke studies the Force under Jedi Master Yoda. When Vader captures Lukes friends, Luke must decide whether to complete his training and become a full Jedi Knight or to confront Vader, following a difficult production, The Empire Strikes Back was released on May 21,1980. The film ranks #3 on Empires 2008 list of the 500 greatest movies of all time and it became the highest-grossing film of 1980 and, to date, has earned more than $538 million worldwide from its original run and several re-releases. When adjusted for inflation, it is the sequel of all time. The film was followed by a sequel, titled Return of the Jedi, in 2010, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for being culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant. Three years after the destruction of the Death Star, the Rebel Alliance has been driven from their base on Yavin IV by the Galactic Empire. The Rebels, led by Princess Leia, have set up their new base on the ice planet Hoth, the Imperial fleet, led by Darth Vader, continues to hunt for the Rebels’ new base by dispatching probe droids across the galaxy. While investigating a meteor strike, Luke Skywalker is injured and captured by a wampa. He manages to escape from its cave with his lightsaber, the ghost of his late mentor, Obi-Wan Kenobi, instructs him to go to the Dagobah system to train under Jedi Master Yoda. He is found by Han Solo, who kills his tauntaun, Han and Luke make it through the night and are rescued by a search party. On patrol, Han and Chewbacca discover the meteor Luke had planned to investigate is actually a probe droid, the Empire launches a large-scale attack, using AT-AT Walkers to capture the base. Despite heavy resistance, the Walkers destroy the shield generator. Han and Leia escape on the Millennium Falcon with C-3PO and Chewbacca and they hide in an asteroid field, where Han and Leia grow closer, and eventually, kiss. Vader summons bounty hunters, including the notorious Boba Fett, to assist in finding the Falcon, Luke, meanwhile, escapes with R2-D2 in his X-wing fighter and crash-lands on the swamp planet Dagobah. He meets a creature who is revealed to be Yoda, after conferring with Obi-Wans spirit. Yoda trains Luke as a Jedi and raises his sunken ship from the swamp with the power of the Force, after evading the Empire, Han sets a course for Cloud City, a floating colony in the skies of the gas giant planet Bespin

29.
Millennium Falcon
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The Millennium Falcon is a spaceship in the Star Wars universe commanded at one time by Corellian smuggler Han Solo and his Wookiee first mate, Chewbacca. The highly modified Corellian Engineering Corporation YT-1300 light freighter first appears in Star Wars, the ship also makes a brief cameo appearance in Revenge of the Sith. Additionally, the Falcon appears in a variety of Star Wars expanded universe materials, including books, comics, the ship originally had a more elongated appearance, but this designs similarity to the Eagle Transporters in Space,1999 prompted Lucas to change the Falcons design. The original model was modified, re-scaled, and used as Princess Leias ship, modelmaker Joe Johnston had about four weeks to redesign the Falcon, and Lucass only suggestion to Johnston was to think of a flying saucer. Johnston did not want to produce a basic flying saucer, so he created the offset cockpit, forward cargo mandibles, the design was simple enough to create in the four-week window. Johnston called production of the new Falcon design one of his most intense projects, to this, sound designer Ben Burtt added the hum of the cooling fans on the motion-control rig at Industrial Light & Magic. Visually, the Millennium Falcon was represented by models and external and internal sets. For Star Wars, an exterior set was constructed and the set dressed as Docking Bay 94. Besides the functional landing gear, an additional support held up the structure and was disguised as a fuel line, the interior set included the starboard ring corridor, the boarding ramp, cockpit access tunnel, gun turret ladder, secret compartments, and the forward hold. The cockpit was constructed as a set that could be rocked when the ship was supposed to shake. Several inconsistencies exist between the set and the external set, the cockpit access tunnel angle being the most noticeable. The effects models for Star Wars matched the design of the exterior set, the primary model was 5 feet long and detailed with various kit parts. The ship was represented by a painting when Princess Leia sees it for the first time. For the 1997 Special Edition, a digital model replaces the effects model in several shots, for The Empire Strikes Back, a new external set was constructed. Built in secrecy under the code name Magic Roundabout, the company leased the 1930s Western Sunderland Flying Boat hangar in Pembroke Dock. It was then disassembled and shipped to Elstree Studios, Hertfordshire, today, the Pembroke Dock museum has an exhibit about the project. The new model, which measured at approximately 32 inches in length, had several features that differed from the five-foot model including updated landing gear. The 32 model was the version of the Millennium Falcon most depicted in toys, model kits, the model was reused for Star Wars, Episode VI, Return of the Jedi

30.
Asteroid field
–
The asteroid belt is the circumstellar disc in the Solar System located roughly between the orbits of the planets Mars and Jupiter. It is occupied by numerous irregularly shaped bodies called asteroids or minor planets, the asteroid belt is also termed the main asteroid belt or main belt to distinguish it from other asteroid populations in the Solar System such as near-Earth asteroids and trojan asteroids. About half the mass of the belt is contained in the four largest asteroids, Ceres, Vesta, Pallas, the total mass of the asteroid belt is approximately 4% that of the Moon, or 22% that of Pluto, and roughly twice that of Plutos moon Charon. Ceres, the belts only dwarf planet, is about 950 km in diameter, whereas Vesta, Pallas. The remaining bodies range down to the size of a dust particle, the asteroid material is so thinly distributed that numerous unmanned spacecraft have traversed it without incident. Nonetheless, collisions between large asteroids do occur, and these can form a family whose members have similar orbital characteristics. Individual asteroids within the belt are categorized by their spectra. The asteroid belt formed from the solar nebula as a group of planetesimals. Planetesimals are the precursors of the protoplanets. Between Mars and Jupiter, however, gravitational perturbations from Jupiter imbued the protoplanets with too much energy for them to accrete into a planet. Collisions became too violent, and instead of fusing together, the planetesimals, as a result,99. 9% of the asteroid belts original mass was lost in the first 100 million years of the Solar Systems history. Some fragments eventually found their way into the inner Solar System, Asteroid orbits continue to be appreciably perturbed whenever their period of revolution about the Sun forms an orbital resonance with Jupiter. At these orbital distances, a Kirkwood gap occurs as they are swept into other orbits. Classes of small Solar System bodies in other regions are the objects, the centaurs, the Kuiper belt objects, the scattered disc objects, the sednoids. On 22 January 2014, ESA scientists reported the detection, for the first definitive time, of water vapor on Ceres, the detection was made by using the far-infrared abilities of the Herschel Space Observatory. The finding was unexpected because comets, not asteroids, are considered to sprout jets. According to one of the scientists, The lines are becoming more and more blurred between comets and asteroids. This pattern, now known as the Titius–Bode law, predicted the semi-major axes of the six planets of the provided one allowed for a gap between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter

31.
Discovery One
–
United States Spacecraft Discovery One is a fictional spaceship that appears in The Space Odyssey series, including the motion pictures 2001, A Space Odyssey and 2010, The Year We Make Contact. It is an interplanetary spaceship operated in part by the HAL9000 artificial intelligence. This spaceship is founded on solidly conceived, yet unrealized science, the producer and director Stanley Kubrick thought that the audiences might interpret the wings as meaning that the spacecraft was intended to fly through an atmosphere. The Discovery One was named after Captain Robert Scotts sailing ship RRS Discovery, writer Arthur C. Clarke used to visit this ship when it was moored in London. It shares its name with a spacecraft, the Space Shuttle Discovery. In the novel 2001, A Space Odyssey, the Discovery One is described as being about 460 feet long and powered by a nuclear plasma drive. 275 feet of tankage and structure separate the part of the spaceship where the crew quarters, the computer, flight controls, small auxiliary craft. In the crews centrifuge, the crewmen would have enjoyed Moon-like gravitational conditions and this would be where they spend most of their time, and where the three hibernating astronauts rested in their compartments. The piloting, navigation, and other occasional tasks could take place in the zero-gravity command module, because of its lack of aerodynamic design and its immense size, the Discovery One would be assembled in and launched from orbit around the Earth. As a result, its mission became a one-way spaceflight to Saturn. After investigating alien artifacts at Saturn and Iapetus, the plan is for all five members of the crew to enter suspended animation for an indefinite period of time. The ships centrifuge was a band of deck, mounted inside the crew compartment. The centrifugal force created by its spin simulated the effects of gravity and it was the primary living and work area, featuring consoles, panels, screens, and devices. In the movie, there was Earth gravity in the centrifuge, at all other points on the ship, including the command bridge crew members used velcro shoes to attach themselves to the floor. In the book IBM predicted that development would have advanced to such an extent that the mission could be undertaken with all the astronauts placed in hibernation. It was said to be desired, however, that regular communications be maintained throughout the voyage between the pilot and copilot and mission control back on Earth, during communication, account was taken of the elapsed time for electromagnetic waves crossing space between the spaceship and the Earth. For example, Poole is depicted watching a birthday message from his family. Such a conversation is not possible because messages take over 30 minutes to transmit between Jupiter and Earth, naturally, this time would depend on the relative positions of the bodies in the Solar System at any given moment

32.
Asteroid belt
–
The asteroid belt is the circumstellar disc in the Solar System located roughly between the orbits of the planets Mars and Jupiter. It is occupied by numerous irregularly shaped bodies called asteroids or minor planets, the asteroid belt is also termed the main asteroid belt or main belt to distinguish it from other asteroid populations in the Solar System such as near-Earth asteroids and trojan asteroids. About half the mass of the belt is contained in the four largest asteroids, Ceres, Vesta, Pallas, the total mass of the asteroid belt is approximately 4% that of the Moon, or 22% that of Pluto, and roughly twice that of Plutos moon Charon. Ceres, the belts only dwarf planet, is about 950 km in diameter, whereas Vesta, Pallas. The remaining bodies range down to the size of a dust particle, the asteroid material is so thinly distributed that numerous unmanned spacecraft have traversed it without incident. Nonetheless, collisions between large asteroids do occur, and these can form a family whose members have similar orbital characteristics. Individual asteroids within the belt are categorized by their spectra. The asteroid belt formed from the solar nebula as a group of planetesimals. Planetesimals are the precursors of the protoplanets. Between Mars and Jupiter, however, gravitational perturbations from Jupiter imbued the protoplanets with too much energy for them to accrete into a planet. Collisions became too violent, and instead of fusing together, the planetesimals, as a result,99. 9% of the asteroid belts original mass was lost in the first 100 million years of the Solar Systems history. Some fragments eventually found their way into the inner Solar System, Asteroid orbits continue to be appreciably perturbed whenever their period of revolution about the Sun forms an orbital resonance with Jupiter. At these orbital distances, a Kirkwood gap occurs as they are swept into other orbits. Classes of small Solar System bodies in other regions are the objects, the centaurs, the Kuiper belt objects, the scattered disc objects, the sednoids. On 22 January 2014, ESA scientists reported the detection, for the first definitive time, of water vapor on Ceres, the detection was made by using the far-infrared abilities of the Herschel Space Observatory. The finding was unexpected because comets, not asteroids, are considered to sprout jets. According to one of the scientists, The lines are becoming more and more blurred between comets and asteroids. This pattern, now known as the Titius–Bode law, predicted the semi-major axes of the six planets of the provided one allowed for a gap between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter

33.
2001: A Space Odyssey (novel)
–
2001, A Space Odyssey is a 1968 science fiction novel written by British writer Arthur C. It was developed concurrently with Stanley Kubricks film version and published after the release of the film, Clarke and Kubrick worked on the book together, but eventually only Clarke ended up as the official author. The story is based in part on various stories by Clarke, most notably. By 1992, the novel had three million copies worldwide. An elaboration of Clarke and Kubricks collaborative work on this project was made in The Lost Worlds of 2001, the first part of the novel is similar to the plot of an earlier Clarke story, Encounter in the Dawn. The book shows one such monolith appearing in ancient Africa,3 million years B. C. where it inspires a group of hominids to develop tools. The ape-men use their tools to kill animals and eat meat and they then use the tools to kill a leopard preying on them, the next day, the main ape character, Moon-Watcher, uses a club to kill the leader of a rival tribe. The book suggests that the monolith was instrumental in awakening intelligence, the book then tells of the year C. E.1999, detailing Dr. Heywood Floyds travel to Clavius Base on the Moon. An excavation of the area has revealed a large slab, precisely fashioned to a ratio of exactly 1,4,9, or 1², 2², 3². Floyd and a team of scientists travel across the Moon to view TMA-1 and it then sends a piercing radio transmission to one of the moons of Saturn, Japetus, where an expedition is then planned to investigate. One feature of the monolith was that it absorbed all the sunlight cast on it. Therefore, no shadows were seen on its jet black surface, the HAL9000, an artificially intelligent computer, addressed as Hal, maintains the ship. While Poole is receiving a message from his family on Earth. Poole takes one of the pods and swaps the AE-35 unit. Poole and Bowman become suspicious at Hals refusal to admit that his diagnosis was mistaken, in communicating with Earth, Poole and Bowman are directed to disconnect Hal for analysis. These instructions are interrupted as the signal is broken, and Hal informs them that the AE-35 unit has malfunctioned, as Poole is removing the unit he is killed when his spacesuit is torn, exposing him to the vacuum of space. Bowman, uncertain of Hals role therein, decides to wake the three astronauts, and therefore quarrels with Hal, with Hal refusing to obey his orders. Bowman threatens to disconnect him if his orders are not obeyed, as Bowman begins to awaken his colleagues, he hears Hal open both airlocks into space, releasing the ships internal atmosphere

34.
Asteroid Belt
–
The asteroid belt is the circumstellar disc in the Solar System located roughly between the orbits of the planets Mars and Jupiter. It is occupied by numerous irregularly shaped bodies called asteroids or minor planets, the asteroid belt is also termed the main asteroid belt or main belt to distinguish it from other asteroid populations in the Solar System such as near-Earth asteroids and trojan asteroids. About half the mass of the belt is contained in the four largest asteroids, Ceres, Vesta, Pallas, the total mass of the asteroid belt is approximately 4% that of the Moon, or 22% that of Pluto, and roughly twice that of Plutos moon Charon. Ceres, the belts only dwarf planet, is about 950 km in diameter, whereas Vesta, Pallas. The remaining bodies range down to the size of a dust particle, the asteroid material is so thinly distributed that numerous unmanned spacecraft have traversed it without incident. Nonetheless, collisions between large asteroids do occur, and these can form a family whose members have similar orbital characteristics. Individual asteroids within the belt are categorized by their spectra. The asteroid belt formed from the solar nebula as a group of planetesimals. Planetesimals are the precursors of the protoplanets. Between Mars and Jupiter, however, gravitational perturbations from Jupiter imbued the protoplanets with too much energy for them to accrete into a planet. Collisions became too violent, and instead of fusing together, the planetesimals, as a result,99. 9% of the asteroid belts original mass was lost in the first 100 million years of the Solar Systems history. Some fragments eventually found their way into the inner Solar System, Asteroid orbits continue to be appreciably perturbed whenever their period of revolution about the Sun forms an orbital resonance with Jupiter. At these orbital distances, a Kirkwood gap occurs as they are swept into other orbits. Classes of small Solar System bodies in other regions are the objects, the centaurs, the Kuiper belt objects, the scattered disc objects, the sednoids. On 22 January 2014, ESA scientists reported the detection, for the first definitive time, of water vapor on Ceres, the detection was made by using the far-infrared abilities of the Herschel Space Observatory. The finding was unexpected because comets, not asteroids, are considered to sprout jets. According to one of the scientists, The lines are becoming more and more blurred between comets and asteroids. This pattern, now known as the Titius–Bode law, predicted the semi-major axes of the six planets of the provided one allowed for a gap between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter

35.
Jupiter
–
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System. It is a giant planet with a mass one-thousandth that of the Sun, Jupiter and Saturn are gas giants, the other two giant planets, Uranus and Neptune are ice giants. Jupiter has been known to astronomers since antiquity, the Romans named it after their god Jupiter. Jupiter is primarily composed of hydrogen with a quarter of its mass being helium and it may also have a rocky core of heavier elements, but like the other giant planets, Jupiter lacks a well-defined solid surface. Because of its rotation, the planets shape is that of an oblate spheroid. The outer atmosphere is visibly segregated into several bands at different latitudes, resulting in turbulence, a prominent result is the Great Red Spot, a giant storm that is known to have existed since at least the 17th century when it was first seen by telescope. Surrounding Jupiter is a faint planetary ring system and a powerful magnetosphere, Jupiter has at least 67 moons, including the four large Galilean moons discovered by Galileo Galilei in 1610. Ganymede, the largest of these, has a greater than that of the planet Mercury. Jupiter has been explored on several occasions by robotic spacecraft, most notably during the early Pioneer and Voyager flyby missions and later by the Galileo orbiter. In late February 2007, Jupiter was visited by the New Horizons probe, the latest probe to visit the planet is Juno, which entered into orbit around Jupiter on July 4,2016. Future targets for exploration in the Jupiter system include the probable ice-covered liquid ocean of its moon Europa, Earth and its neighbor planets may have formed from fragments of planets after collisions with Jupiter destroyed those super-Earths near the Sun. Astronomers have discovered nearly 500 planetary systems with multiple planets, Jupiter moving out of the inner Solar System would have allowed the formation of inner planets, including Earth. Jupiter is composed primarily of gaseous and liquid matter and it is the largest of the four giant planets in the Solar System and hence its largest planet. It has a diameter of 142,984 km at its equator, the average density of Jupiter,1.326 g/cm3, is the second highest of the giant planets, but lower than those of the four terrestrial planets. Jupiters upper atmosphere is about 88–92% hydrogen and 8–12% helium by percent volume of gas molecules, a helium atom has about four times as much mass as a hydrogen atom, so the composition changes when described as the proportion of mass contributed by different atoms. Thus, Jupiters atmosphere is approximately 75% hydrogen and 24% helium by mass, the atmosphere contains trace amounts of methane, water vapor, ammonia, and silicon-based compounds. There are also traces of carbon, ethane, hydrogen sulfide, neon, oxygen, phosphine, the outermost layer of the atmosphere contains crystals of frozen ammonia. The interior contains denser materials - by mass it is roughly 71% hydrogen, 24% helium, through infrared and ultraviolet measurements, trace amounts of benzene and other hydrocarbons have also been found

36.
Sun
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The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a perfect sphere of hot plasma, with internal convective motion that generates a magnetic field via a dynamo process. It is by far the most important source of energy for life on Earth. Its diameter is about 109 times that of Earth, and its mass is about 330,000 times that of Earth, accounting for about 99. 86% of the total mass of the Solar System. About three quarters of the Suns mass consists of hydrogen, the rest is mostly helium, with smaller quantities of heavier elements, including oxygen, carbon, neon. The Sun is a G-type main-sequence star based on its spectral class and it formed approximately 4.6 billion years ago from the gravitational collapse of matter within a region of a large molecular cloud. Most of this matter gathered in the center, whereas the rest flattened into a disk that became the Solar System. The central mass became so hot and dense that it eventually initiated nuclear fusion in its core and it is thought that almost all stars form by this process. The Sun is roughly middle-aged, it has not changed dramatically for more than four billion years and it is calculated that the Sun will become sufficiently large enough to engulf the current orbits of Mercury, Venus, and probably Earth. The enormous effect of the Sun on Earth has been recognized since prehistoric times, the synodic rotation of Earth and its orbit around the Sun are the basis of the solar calendar, which is the predominant calendar in use today. The English proper name Sun developed from Old English sunne and may be related to south, all Germanic terms for the Sun stem from Proto-Germanic *sunnōn. The English weekday name Sunday stems from Old English and is ultimately a result of a Germanic interpretation of Latin dies solis, the Latin name for the Sun, Sol, is not common in general English language use, the adjectival form is the related word solar. The term sol is used by planetary astronomers to refer to the duration of a solar day on another planet. A mean Earth solar day is approximately 24 hours, whereas a mean Martian sol is 24 hours,39 minutes, and 35.244 seconds. From at least the 4th Dynasty of Ancient Egypt, the Sun was worshipped as the god Ra, portrayed as a falcon-headed divinity surmounted by the solar disk, and surrounded by a serpent. In the New Empire period, the Sun became identified with the dung beetle, in the form of the Sun disc Aten, the Sun had a brief resurgence during the Amarna Period when it again became the preeminent, if not only, divinity for the Pharaoh Akhenaton. The Sun is viewed as a goddess in Germanic paganism, Sól/Sunna, in ancient Roman culture, Sunday was the day of the Sun god. It was adopted as the Sabbath day by Christians who did not have a Jewish background, the symbol of light was a pagan device adopted by Christians, and perhaps the most important one that did not come from Jewish traditions

37.
Lagrange points
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The Lagrange points mark positions where the combined gravitational pull of the two large masses provides precisely the centrifugal force required to orbit with them. There are five points, labeled L1 to L5, all in the orbital plane of the two large bodies. The first three are on the line connecting the two bodies, the last two, L4 and L5, each form an equilateral triangle with the two large bodies. The two latter points are stable, which implies that objects can orbit around them in a coordinate system tied to the two large bodies. Several planets have satellites near their L4 and L5 points with respect to the Sun, the three collinear Lagrange points were discovered by Leonhard Euler a few years before Lagrange discovered the remaining two. In 1772, Joseph-Louis Lagrange published an Essay on the three-body problem, in the first chapter he considered the general three-body problem. From that, in the chapter, he demonstrated two special constant-pattern solutions, the collinear and the equilateral, for any three masses, with circular orbits. The five Lagrangian points are labeled and defined as follows, The L1 point lies on the line defined by the two large masses M1 and M2, and between them. It is the most intuitively understood of the Lagrangian points, the one where the attraction of M2 partially cancels M1s gravitational attraction. Explanation An object that orbits the Sun more closely than Earth would normally have an orbital period than Earth. If the object is directly between Earth and the Sun, then Earths gravity counteracts some of the Suns pull on the object, the closer to Earth the object is, the greater this effect is. At the L1 point, the period of the object becomes exactly equal to Earths orbital period. L1 is about 1.5 million kilometers from Earth, the L2 point lies on the line through the two large masses, beyond the smaller of the two. Here, the forces of the two large masses balance the centrifugal effect on a body at L2. Explanation On the opposite side of Earth from the Sun, the period of an object would normally be greater than that of Earth. The extra pull of Earths gravity decreases the orbital period of the object, like L1, L2 is about 1.5 million kilometers from Earth. The L3 point lies on the line defined by the two masses, beyond the larger of the two. Explanation L3 in the Sun–Earth system exists on the side of the Sun

38.
Solar System
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The Solar System is the gravitationally bound system comprising the Sun and the objects that orbit it, either directly or indirectly. Of those objects that orbit the Sun directly, the largest eight are the planets, with the remainder being significantly smaller objects, such as dwarf planets, of the objects that orbit the Sun indirectly, the moons, two are larger than the smallest planet, Mercury. The Solar System formed 4.6 billion years ago from the collapse of a giant interstellar molecular cloud. The vast majority of the mass is in the Sun. The four smaller inner planets, Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars, are terrestrial planets, being composed of rock. The four outer planets are giant planets, being more massive than the terrestrials. All planets have almost circular orbits that lie within a flat disc called the ecliptic. The Solar System also contains smaller objects, the asteroid belt, which lies between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, mostly contains objects composed, like the terrestrial planets, of rock and metal. Beyond Neptunes orbit lie the Kuiper belt and scattered disc, which are populations of trans-Neptunian objects composed mostly of ices, within these populations are several dozen to possibly tens of thousands of objects large enough that they have been rounded by their own gravity. Such objects are categorized as dwarf planets, identified dwarf planets include the asteroid Ceres and the trans-Neptunian objects Pluto and Eris. In addition to two regions, various other small-body populations, including comets, centaurs and interplanetary dust clouds. Six of the planets, at least four of the dwarf planets, each of the outer planets is encircled by planetary rings of dust and other small objects. The solar wind, a stream of charged particles flowing outwards from the Sun, the heliopause is the point at which pressure from the solar wind is equal to the opposing pressure of the interstellar medium, it extends out to the edge of the scattered disc. The Oort cloud, which is thought to be the source for long-period comets, the Solar System is located in the Orion Arm,26,000 light-years from the center of the Milky Way. For most of history, humanity did not recognize or understand the concept of the Solar System, the invention of the telescope led to the discovery of further planets and moons. The principal component of the Solar System is the Sun, a G2 main-sequence star that contains 99. 86% of the known mass. The Suns four largest orbiting bodies, the giant planets, account for 99% of the mass, with Jupiter. The remaining objects of the Solar System together comprise less than 0. 002% of the Solar Systems total mass, most large objects in orbit around the Sun lie near the plane of Earths orbit, known as the ecliptic

39.
Flight dynamics (spacecraft)
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Spacecraft flight dynamics is the science of space vehicle performance, stability, and control. Dynamics is the modeling of the position and orientation of a vehicle. For a spacecraft, these forces are of three types, propulsive force, gravitational force exerted by the Earth or other celestial bodies, the vehicles attitude must be taken into account because of its effect on the aerodynamic and propulsive forces. There are other reasons, unrelated to flight dynamics, for controlling the attitude in non-powered flight. The principles of flight dynamics are used to control a spacecraft by means of an inertial navigation system in conjunction with an attitude control system. Together, they create a subsystem of the bus often called ADCS. Solving for a, acceleration equals the sum divided by mass. Acceleration is integrated over time to get velocity, and velocity is in turn integrated to get position, for preliminary studies, some simplifying assumptions can be made with reasonably small loss of accuracy. The general case of a launch from Earth must take engine thrust, aerodynamic forces, the acceleration equation can be reduced from vector to scalar form by resolving it into tangential and angular components. For most launch vehicles, relatively small levels of lift are generated, in the gravity turn, pitch-over is initiated by applying an increasing angle of attack, followed by a gradual decrease in angle of attack through the remainder of the flight. A powered descent analysis would use the procedure, with reverse boundary conditions. Attitude control is the exercise of control over the orientation of an object with respect to a frame of reference or another entity. The attitude of a craft can be described using three mutually perpendicular axes of rotation, generally referred to as roll, pitch, and yaw angles respectively. Orientation is a quantity described by three angles for the instantaneous direction, and the instantaneous rates of roll in all three axes of rotation. The three principal moments of inertia Ix, Iy, and Iz about the roll, pitch, attitude control torque, absent aerodynamic forces, is frequently applied by a reaction control system, a set of thrusters located about the vehicle. Orbital mechanics are used to calculate flight in orbit about a central body and this can be shown to result in the trajectory being ideally a conic section with the central body located at one focus. Orbital trajectories are either circles or ellipses, the parabolic trajectory represents first escape of the vehicle from the central bodys gravitational field, hyperbolic trajectories are escape trajectories with excess velocity, and will be covered under Interplanetary flight below. Elliptical orbits are characterized by three elements, the argument of periapsis ω, measured in the orbital plane counter-clockwise looking southward, from the ascending node to the periapsis

40.
Flight dynamics (aircraft)
–
Flight dynamics is the science of air vehicle orientation and control in three dimensions. The three critical flight dynamics parameters are the angles of rotation in three dimensions about the center of mass, known as pitch, roll and yaw. Aerospace engineers develop control systems for a vehicles orientation about its center of mass, for example, a pitching moment is a vertical force applied at a distance forward or aft from the aerodynamic center of the aircraft, causing the aircraft to pitch up or down. Roll, pitch and yaw refer to rotations about the respective axes starting from a steady flight equilibrium state. The equilibrium roll angle is known as wings level or zero bank angle, the equilibrium pitch angle in submarine and airship parlance is known as trim, but in aircraft, trim usually refers to the equilibrium angle of attack, rather than orientation. However, common usage ignores this distinction between equilibrium and dynamic cases, the most common aeronautical convention defines the roll as acting about the longitudinal axis, positive with the starboard wing down. The yaw is about the body axis, positive with the nose to starboard. Pitch is about a perpendicular to the longitudinal plane of symmetry. A fixed-wing aircraft increases or decreases the lift generated by the wings when it pitches nose up or down by increasing or decreasing the angle of attack. The roll angle is known as bank angle on a fixed-wing aircraft. Three right-handed, Cartesian coordinate systems see frequent use in flight dynamics, the other two reference frames are body-fixed, with origins moving along with the aircraft, typically at the center of gravity. The Earth frame is a convenient frame to express aircraft translational and rotational kinematics, the Earth frame is also useful in that, under certain assumptions, it can be approximated as inertial. Additionally, one acting on the aircraft, weight, is fixed in the +zE direction. The body frame is often of interest because the origin and the axes remain fixed relative to the aircraft and this means that the relative orientation of the Earth and body frames describes the aircraft attitude. Also, the direction of the force of thrust is generally fixed in the frame, though some aircraft can vary this direction. The wind frame is a convenient frame to express the aerodynamic forces, in particular, the net aerodynamic force can be divided into components along the wind frame axes, with the drag force in the −xw direction and the lift force in the −zw direction. In addition to defining the reference frames, the orientation of the reference frames can be determined. Many Euler angle conventions exist, but all of the rotation sequences presented below use the z-y-x convention and this convention corresponds to a type of Tait-Bryan angles, which are commonly referred to as Euler angles

41.
Banked turn
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A banked turn is a turn or change of direction in which the vehicle banks or inclines, usually towards the inside of the turn. For a road or railroad this is due to the roadbed having a transverse down-slope towards the inside of the curve. The bank angle is the angle at which the vehicle is inclined about its axis with respect to the horizontal. If the bank angle is zero, the surface is flat, the only force keeping the vehicle turning on its path is friction, or traction. This must be enough to provide the centripetal force, a relationship which can be expressed as an inequality. The expression on the hand side is the centripetal acceleration multiplied by mass. The left hand side is the frictional force, which equals the coefficient of friction μ multiplied by the normal force. Rearranging the maximum cornering speed is v < r μ g, note that μ can be the coefficient for static or dynamic friction. In the latter case, where the vehicle is skidding around a bend, the friction is at its limit and this also ignores effects such as downforce which can increase the normal force and cornering speed. As opposed to a vehicle riding along a circle, inclined edges add an additional force that keeps the vehicle in its path. This force is the component of the vehicles normal force. In the absence of friction, the force is the only one acting on the vehicle in the direction of the center of the circle. The magnitude of velocity is also known as the rated speed of a turn or curve. Notice that the speed of the curve is the same for all massive objects. When considering the effects of friction on the system, once again we need to note which way the force is pointing. When calculating a maximum velocity for our automobile, friction will point down the incline, therefore, we must add the horizontal component of friction to that of the normal force. Consequently, opposite operations are performed when inserting friction into equations for forces in the centripetal and vertical directions, improperly banked road curves increase the risk of run-off-road and head-on crashes. A 2% deficiency in superelevation can be expected to increase crash frequency by 6%, up until now, highway engineers have been without efficient tools to identify improperly banked curves and to design relevant mitigating road actions

42.
Lawrence M. Krauss
–
Krauss is the author of several bestselling books, including The Physics of Star Trek and A Universe from Nothing, and chairs the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists Board of Sponsors. Krauss was born in New York City, but spent his childhood in Toronto, Ontario and he was raised in a Jewish household. On January 19,1980, he married Katherine Kelley, a native of Nova Scotia and their daughter, Lilli, was born in 1984. Krauss and Kelley separated in 2010 and were divorced in 2012, Krauss married Nancy Dahl, an Australian-American, on January 7,2014, and spends some of the Arizona summer in Australia at the Mount Stromlo Observatory. After some time in the Harvard Society of Fellows, Krauss became an assistant professor at Yale University in 1985 and he was named the Ambrose Swasey Professor of Physics, professor of astronomy, and was chairman of the physics department at Case Western Reserve University from 1993 to 2005. In 2006, Krauss led the initiative for the vote against Case Western Reserve Universitys president Edward M. Hundert and provost Anderson by the College of Arts. On March 2,2006, both votes were carried, 131–44 against Hundert and 97–68 against Anderson. He also became the Director of the Origins Project, a university initiative created to explore humankinds most fundamental questions about our origins, in 2009, he helped inaugurate this initiative at the Origins Symposium, in which eighty scientists participated and three thousand people attended. Krauss appears in the media both at home and abroad to facilitate public outreach in science and he has also written editorials for The New York Times. As a result of his appearance in 2004 before the school board of Ohio. Krauss attended and was a speaker at the Beyond Belief symposia in November 2006 and he served on the science policy committee for Barack Obamas first presidential campaign and, also in 2008, was named co-president of the board of sponsors of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. In 2013, he accepted a professorship at the Research School of Astronomy. Krauss is a critic of string theory, which he discusses in his 2005 book Hiding in the Mirror. In his 2012 book A Universe from Nothing Krauss says about string theory we still have no idea if this remarkable theoretical edifice actually has anything to do with the real world. Originally, its foreword was to have been written by Christopher Hitchens, the paperback version of the book appeared in January 2013 with a new question-and-answer section and a preface integrating the 2012 discovery of the Higgs boson at the LHC. A July 2012 article in Newsweek, written by Krauss, indicates how the Higgs particle is related to our understanding of the Big Bang and he also wrote a longer piece in the New York Times explaining the science behind and significance of the particle. Krauss mostly works in physics and has published research on a great variety of topics within that field. Furthermore, Krauss has formulated a model in which the universe could have come from nothing

43.
Theoretical physics
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Theoretical physics is a branch of physics that employs mathematical models and abstractions of physical objects and systems to rationalize, explain and predict natural phenomena. This is in contrast to physics, which uses experimental tools to probe these phenomena. The advancement of science depends in general on the interplay between experimental studies and theory, in some cases, theoretical physics adheres to standards of mathematical rigor while giving little weight to experiments and observations. Conversely, Einstein was awarded the Nobel Prize for explaining the photoelectric effect, a physical theory is a model of physical events. It is judged by the extent to which its predictions agree with empirical observations, the quality of a physical theory is also judged on its ability to make new predictions which can be verified by new observations. A physical theory similarly differs from a theory, in the sense that the word theory has a different meaning in mathematical terms. A physical theory involves one or more relationships between various measurable quantities, archimedes realized that a ship floats by displacing its mass of water, Pythagoras understood the relation between the length of a vibrating string and the musical tone it produces. Other examples include entropy as a measure of the uncertainty regarding the positions and motions of unseen particles, Theoretical physics consists of several different approaches. In this regard, theoretical particle physics forms a good example, for instance, phenomenologists might employ empirical formulas to agree with experimental results, often without deep physical understanding. Modelers often appear much like phenomenologists, but try to model speculative theories that have certain desirable features, some attempt to create approximate theories, called effective theories, because fully developed theories may be regarded as unsolvable or too complicated. Other theorists may try to unify, formalise, reinterpret or generalise extant theories, or create completely new ones altogether. Sometimes the vision provided by pure mathematical systems can provide clues to how a system might be modeled, e. g. the notion, due to Riemann and others. Theoretical problems that need computational investigation are often the concern of computational physics, Theoretical advances may consist in setting aside old, incorrect paradigms or may be an alternative model that provides answers that are more accurate or that can be more widely applied. In the latter case, a correspondence principle will be required to recover the previously known result, sometimes though, advances may proceed along different paths. However, an exception to all the above is the wave–particle duality, Physical theories become accepted if they are able to make correct predictions and no incorrect ones. They are also likely to be accepted if they connect a wide range of phenomena. Testing the consequences of a theory is part of the scientific method, Physical theories can be grouped into three categories, mainstream theories, proposed theories and fringe theories. Theoretical physics began at least 2,300 years ago, under the Pre-socratic philosophy, during the Middle Ages and Renaissance, the concept of experimental science, the counterpoint to theory, began with scholars such as Ibn al-Haytham and Francis Bacon

Space opera
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Space opera is a subgenre of science fiction that emphasizes space warfare, melodramatic adventure, interplanetary battles, as well as chivalric romance, and often risk-taking. Set mainly or entirely in space, it usually involves conflict between opponents possessing advanced abilities, futuristic weapons, and other sophisticated technology. The te

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Classic pulp space opera cover. Planet Stories, Jan.1954

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Back cover of Galaxy #1, October 1950

Interstellar travel
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Interstellar travel is the term used for hypothetical piloted or unpiloted travel between stars or planetary systems. The speeds required for travel in a human lifetime far exceed what current methods of spacecraft propulsion can provide. Even with a perfectly efficient propulsion system, the kinetic energy corresponding to those speeds is enormous

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A Bussard ramjet, one of many possible methods that could serve as propulsion for a starship.

Star Wars
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Star Wars is an American epic space opera franchise, centered on a film series created by George Lucas. It depicts the adventures of characters a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. The franchise began in 1977 with the release of the film Star Wars and it was followed by the successful sequels The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, th

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A street performer in costume as Darth Vader in Amsterdam. Vader is one of the most iconic characters of the Star Wars franchise.

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The Star Wars logo as seen in all films

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George Lucas, the creator of Star Wars

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John Williams, composer of the musical scores for all six films of the original and prequel trilogies.

Star Wars expanded universe
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The Star Wars expanded universe is a collective term for all Star Wars fictional material produced by Lucasfilm or officially licensed by it. This restructuring left the Star Wars theatrical films, the Clone Wars animated film, a number of works have subsequently been produced, including the Rebels animated TV series, the 2015 film The Force Awaken

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An overall map of the Star Wars galaxy

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The Star Wars logo, as seen in all films

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A divided and more detailed map of the Star Wars galaxy

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Rebel forces approach the Death Star I during the Battle of Yavin, an event regarded by George Lucas a decisive moment within the fictional history of the Star Wars "Legends" branded Expanded Universe, and is marked as year 0 BBY on Galactic Standard Calendar.

Philosophy
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Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems concerning matters such as existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. The term was coined by Pythagoras. Philosophical methods include questioning, critical discussion, rational argument and systematic presentation, classic philosophical questions include, Is it possible to

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René Descartes

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Thomas Aquinas

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Jeremy Bentham

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Thomas Hobbes

Fictional universe
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A fictional universe is a self-consistent imaginary setting with events, and often other elements, that differ from the real world. It may also be called an imagined, constructed or fictional realm, fictional universes may appear in novels, comics, films, television shows, video games and other creative works. What distinguishes a fictional univers

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Map of the land of Oz, the fictional realm that is the setting for L. Frank Baum 's " Oz " series.

NASA
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President Dwight D. Eisenhower established NASA in 1958 with a distinctly civilian orientation encouraging peaceful applications in space science. The National Aeronautics and Space Act was passed on July 29,1958, disestablishing NASAs predecessor, the new agency became operational on October 1,1958. Since that time, most US space exploration effor

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1963 photo showing Dr. William H. Pickering, (center) JPL Director, President John F. Kennedy, (right). NASA Administrator James Webb in background. They are discussing the Mariner program, with a model presented.

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Seal of NASA

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At launch control for the May 28, 1964, Saturn I SA-6 launch. Wernher von Braun is at center.

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Mercury-Atlas 6 launch on February 20, 1962

Binary star
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A binary star is a star system consisting of two stars orbiting around their common barycenter. Systems of two or more stars are called multiple star systems and these systems, especially when more distant, often appear to the unaided eye as a single point of light, and are then revealed as multiple by other means. Research over the last two centur

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Hubble image of the Sirius binary system, in which Sirius B can be clearly distinguished (lower left)

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Edge-on disc of gas and dust present around the binary star system HD 106906AB.

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Artist's conception of a cataclysmic variable system

Exoplanet
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An exoplanet or extrasolar planet is a planet that orbits a star other than the Sun. The first scientific detection of an exoplanet was in 1988, HARPS has discovered about a hundred exoplanets while the Kepler space telescope has found more than two thousand. Kepler has also detected a few thousand candidate planets, of which about 11% may be false

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Artist's view gives an impression of how commonly planets orbit the stars in the Milky Way.

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The three known planets of the star HR8799, as imaged by the Hale Telescope. The light from the central star was blanked out by a vector vortex coronagraph.

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2MASS J044144 is a brown dwarf with a companion about 5–10 times the mass of Jupiter. It is not clear whether this companion object is a sub-brown dwarf or a planet.

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Coronagraphic image of AB Pictoris showing a companion (bottom left), which is either a brown dwarf or a massive planet. The data was obtained on 16 March 2003 with NACO on the VLT, using a 1.4 arcsec occulting mask on top of AB Pictoris.

Astronomical unit
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The astronomical unit is a unit of length, roughly the distance from Earth to the Sun. However, that varies as Earth orbits the Sun, from a maximum to a minimum. Originally conceived as the average of Earths aphelion and perihelion, it is now defined as exactly 149597870700 metres, the astronomical unit is used primarily as a convenient yardstick f

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Transits of Venus across the face of the Sun were, for a long time, the best method of measuring the astronomical unit, despite the difficulties (here, the so-called " black drop effect ") and the rarity of observations.

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The red line indicates the Earth-Sun distance, which is on average about 1 astronomical unit.

Tatooine
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Tatooine orbits two main sequence binary stars and it has three moons, Ghomrassen, Guermessa and Chenini. Its G-type twin stars heat its surface, making water and shade hard to come by, the planets lack of resources, brutal heat, and decentralized population have made governing the planet nearly impossible. The planet fell into the clutches of the

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Tatooine

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A Tusken Raider, a native inhabitant of Tatooine

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Luke Skywalker next to a moisture vaporator on Tatooine

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Filming location Mos Espa near Tozeur

Center of mass
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The distribution of mass is balanced around the center of mass and the average of the weighted position coordinates of the distributed mass defines its coordinates. Calculations in mechanics are simplified when formulated with respect to the center of mass. It is a point where entire mass of an object may be assumed to be concentrated to visualise

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This child's toy uses the principles of center of mass to keep balance on a finger.

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Estimated center of mass/gravity (blue sphere) of a gymnast at the end of performing a cartwheel. Notice center is outside the body in this position.

Kepler-16b
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It is a Saturn-mass planet consisting of half gas and half rock and ice, and it orbits a binary star, Kepler-16, with a period of 229 days. Kepler-16b was discovered using the space observatory aboard NASAs Kepler spacecraft, scientists were able to detect Kepler-16b using the transit method, when they noticed the dimming of one of the systems star

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An artist's rendering of the Kepler-16 system, showing the binary star being orbited by Kepler-16b

Gravity
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Gravity, or gravitation, is a natural phenomenon by which all things with mass are brought toward one another, including planets, stars and galaxies. Since energy and mass are equivalent, all forms of energy, including light, on Earth, gravity gives weight to physical objects and causes the ocean tides. Gravity has a range, although its effects bec

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Sir Isaac Newton, an English physicist who lived from 1642 to 1727

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Two-dimensional analogy of spacetime distortion generated by the mass of an object. Matter changes the geometry of spacetime, this (curved) geometry being interpreted as gravity. White lines do not represent the curvature of space but instead represent the coordinate system imposed on the curved spacetime, which would be rectilinear in a flat spacetime.

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Ball falling freely under gravity. See text for description.

Doppler effect
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The Doppler effect is the change in frequency or wavelength of a wave for an observer moving relative to its source. It is named after the Austrian physicist Christian Doppler, who proposed it in 1842 in Prague, a common example of Doppler shift is the change of pitch heard when a vehicle sounding a siren or horn approaches, passes, and recedes fro

The Guardian
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The Guardian is a British daily newspaper, known from 1821 until 1959 as the Manchester Guardian. Along with its sister papers The Observer and The Guardian Weekly, The Guardian is part of the Guardian Media Group, the Scott Trust became a limited company in 2008, with a constitution to maintain the same protections for The Guardian. Profits are re

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The Guardian' s Newsroom visitor centre and archive (No 60), with an old sign with the name The Manchester Guardian

Kepler (spacecraft)
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Kepler is a space observatory launched by NASA to discover Earth-size planets orbiting other stars. Named after astronomer Johannes Kepler, the spacecraft was launched on March 7,2009 and these data are transmitted to Earth, then analyzed to detect periodic dimming caused by exoplanets that cross in front of their host star. Kepler is part of NASAs

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Artist's impression of the Kepler telescope

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Kepler in Astrotech's Hazardous Processing Facility

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Kepler ‍‍ '​‍s search volume, in the context of the Milky Way galaxy.

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Kepler ‍‍ '​‍s launch on March 7, 2009

Astrophysicist
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Astrophysics is the branch of astronomy that employs the principles of physics and chemistry to ascertain the nature of the heavenly bodies, rather than their positions or motions in space. Among the objects studied are the Sun, other stars, galaxies, extrasolar planets, the interstellar medium and their emissions are examined across all parts of t

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Early 20th-century comparison of elemental, solar, and stellar spectra

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Mass–energy equivalence

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The stream lines on this simulation of a supernova show the flow of matter behind the shock wave giving clues as to the origin of pulsars

Proxima Centauri
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Proxima Centauri or Alpha Centauri C is a red dwarf, a small low-mass star, about 4.25 light-years from the Sun in the constellation of Centaurus. It was discovered in 1915 by the Scottish astronomer Robert Innes, the Director of the Union Observatory in South Africa, with an apparent magnitude of 11.05, it is too faint to be seen with the naked ey

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Proxima Centauri as seen by Hubble

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The two bright stars are (left) Alpha Centauri and (right) Beta Centauri. The faint red star in the center of the red circle is Proxima Centauri.

Alpha Centauri
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Alpha Centauri is a star system in the Orion Arm of the Milky Way galaxy, and is the closest star system to the Solar System, being 4.37 light-years from the Sun. It consists of three stars, the pair Alpha Centauri A and Alpha Centauri B together with a small and faint red dwarf, Alpha Centauri C, that may be gravitationally bound to the other two.

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α Centauri and β Centauri, with Proxima circled

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View of Alpha Centauri from the Digitized Sky Survey 2

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Apparent motion of Alpha Centauri relative to Beta Centauri

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Looking toward the sky around Orion from Alpha Centauri with Sirius near Betelgeuse, Procyon in Gemini, and the Sun between Perseus and Cassiopeia generated by Celestia

Polish Academy of Sciences
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The Polish Academy of Sciences, headquartered in Warsaw, is Polands top academy of sciences. It is responsible for spearheading the development of science across the country by a society of distinguished scholars as well as a network of research institutes and it was established in 1951, during the early period of the Polish Peoples Republic follow

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Staszic Palace and Copernicus Monument

University of Warsaw
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The University of Warsaw, established in 1816, is the largest university in Poland. It employs over 6,000 staff including over 3,100 academic educators and it provides graduate courses for 53,000 students. The University offers some 37 different fields of study,18 faculties and over 100 specializations in Humanities and it was founded as a Royal Un

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Main gate on Krakowskie Przedmieście

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University of Warsaw

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Main University campus

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Faculty of Physics

The Force Awakens
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Star Wars, The Force Awakens is a 2015 American epic space opera film directed, co-produced, and co-written by J. J. Abrams. The Force Awakens was announced after The Walt Disney Companys acquisition of Lucasfilm in October 2012 and it was produced by Abrams, his longtime collaborator Bryan Burk, and Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy. Abrams and

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Skellig Michael in Ireland (top) and former RAF Greenham Common in England served as filming locations.

Stormtrooper (Star Wars)
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A stormtrooper is a fictional soldier in the Star Wars franchise created by George Lucas. In The Force Awakens, the upgraded stormtroopers serve the First Order, under the leadership of Supreme Leader Snoke and his commanders, most notably Kylo Ren, General Hux, the order of battle of the Stormtrooper Corps is unspecified in the Star Wars universe.

Chewbacca
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Chewbacca, nicknamed Chewie, is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise. He is a Wookiee, a tall, hirsute biped and intelligent species from the planet Kashyyyk, Chewbacca is the loyal friend and associate of Han Solo, and serves as co-pilot on Solos spaceship, the Millennium Falcon. The character has appeared on television, in books, comi

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Chewbacca in Star Wars

Kylo Ren
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Kylo Ren is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise. Introduced in the 2015 film Star Wars, The Force Awakens, Kylo Ren is the chosen name of Ben Solo, the son of original Star Wars trilogy characters Han Solo and Leia Organa. Though trained by his uncle Luke Skywalker as a Jedi, he has been seduced to the side of the Force by Supreme Lead

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Skellig Michael in Ireland (top) and former RAF Greenham Common in England served as filming locations.

The Empire Strikes Back
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The Empire Strikes Back is a 1980 American epic space opera film directed by Irvin Kershner. Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan wrote the screenplay, with George Lucas writing the films story, the film is set three years after Star Wars. The Galactic Empire, under the leadership of the villainous Darth Vader and the Emperor, is in pursuit of Luke S

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Theatrical release poster

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George Lucas, writer/director of the first film, decided to only executive produce this film

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The 1997 theatrical release poster of the new Special Edition version of the film (art by Drew Struzan)

Battle of Hoth
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The Empire Strikes Back is a 1980 American epic space opera film directed by Irvin Kershner. Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan wrote the screenplay, with George Lucas writing the films story, the film is set three years after Star Wars. The Galactic Empire, under the leadership of the villainous Darth Vader and the Emperor, is in pursuit of Luke S

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Theatrical release poster

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George Lucas, writer/director of the first film, decided to only executive produce this film

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The 1997 theatrical release poster of the new Special Edition version of the film (art by Drew Struzan)

Millennium Falcon
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The Millennium Falcon is a spaceship in the Star Wars universe commanded at one time by Corellian smuggler Han Solo and his Wookiee first mate, Chewbacca. The highly modified Corellian Engineering Corporation YT-1300 light freighter first appears in Star Wars, the ship also makes a brief cameo appearance in Revenge of the Sith. Additionally, the Fa

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The Millennium Falcon in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope

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Harrison Ford and Peter Mayhew in the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon during the making of a scene from the Star Wars Holiday Special.

Asteroid field
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The asteroid belt is the circumstellar disc in the Solar System located roughly between the orbits of the planets Mars and Jupiter. It is occupied by numerous irregularly shaped bodies called asteroids or minor planets, the asteroid belt is also termed the main asteroid belt or main belt to distinguish it from other asteroid populations in the Sola

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By far the largest object within the belt is Ceres. The total mass of the asteroid belt is significantly less than Pluto 's, and approximately twice that of Pluto's moon Charon.

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Sun Jupiter trojans Orbits of planets

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Giuseppe Piazzi, discoverer of Ceres, the largest object in the asteroid belt. For several decades after its discovery Ceres was known as a planet, after which it was reclassified as asteroid number 1. In 2006 it was recognized to be a dwarf planet.

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951 Gaspra, the first asteroid imaged by a spacecraft, as viewed during Galileo ' s 1991 flyby; colors are exaggerated

Discovery One
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United States Spacecraft Discovery One is a fictional spaceship that appears in The Space Odyssey series, including the motion pictures 2001, A Space Odyssey and 2010, The Year We Make Contact. It is an interplanetary spaceship operated in part by the HAL9000 artificial intelligence. This spaceship is founded on solidly conceived, yet unrealized sc

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Discovery launching an EVA pod

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Early pre-production illustration of Discovery

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2001: A Space Odyssey — Three of the Discovery One crew are in a state of hibernation, ostensibly to conserve resources for the voyage.

Asteroid belt
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The asteroid belt is the circumstellar disc in the Solar System located roughly between the orbits of the planets Mars and Jupiter. It is occupied by numerous irregularly shaped bodies called asteroids or minor planets, the asteroid belt is also termed the main asteroid belt or main belt to distinguish it from other asteroid populations in the Sola

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By far the largest object within the belt is Ceres. The total mass of the asteroid belt is significantly less than Pluto 's, and approximately twice that of Pluto's moon Charon.

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Sun Jupiter trojans Orbits of planets

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Giuseppe Piazzi, discoverer of Ceres, the largest object in the asteroid belt. For several decades after its discovery Ceres was known as a planet, after which it was reclassified as asteroid number 1. In 2006 it was recognized to be a dwarf planet.

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951 Gaspra, the first asteroid imaged by a spacecraft, as viewed during Galileo ' s 1991 flyby; colors are exaggerated

2001: A Space Odyssey (novel)
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2001, A Space Odyssey is a 1968 science fiction novel written by British writer Arthur C. It was developed concurrently with Stanley Kubricks film version and published after the release of the film, Clarke and Kubrick worked on the book together, but eventually only Clarke ended up as the official author. The story is based in part on various stor

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First US edition

Asteroid Belt
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The asteroid belt is the circumstellar disc in the Solar System located roughly between the orbits of the planets Mars and Jupiter. It is occupied by numerous irregularly shaped bodies called asteroids or minor planets, the asteroid belt is also termed the main asteroid belt or main belt to distinguish it from other asteroid populations in the Sola

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By far the largest object within the belt is Ceres. The total mass of the asteroid belt is significantly less than Pluto 's, and approximately twice that of Pluto's moon Charon.

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Sun Jupiter trojans Orbits of planets

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Giuseppe Piazzi, discoverer of Ceres, the largest object in the asteroid belt. For several decades after its discovery Ceres was known as a planet, after which it was reclassified as asteroid number 1. In 2006 it was recognized to be a dwarf planet.

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951 Gaspra, the first asteroid imaged by a spacecraft, as viewed during Galileo ' s 1991 flyby; colors are exaggerated

Jupiter
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Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System. It is a giant planet with a mass one-thousandth that of the Sun, Jupiter and Saturn are gas giants, the other two giant planets, Uranus and Neptune are ice giants. Jupiter has been known to astronomers since antiquity, the Romans named it after their god Jupiter. Jupiter

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Jupiter in natural color, photographed by the Cassini spacecraft in 2001

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Jupiter's diameter is one order of magnitude smaller (×0.10045) than the Sun, and one order of magnitude larger (×10.9733) than the Earth. The Great Red Spot is roughly the same size as the Earth.

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This view of Jupiter's Great Red Spot and its surroundings was obtained by Voyager 1 on February 25, 1979, when the spacecraft was 9.2 million km (5.7 million mi) from Jupiter. The white oval storm directly below the Great Red Spot is approximately the same diameter as Earth.

Sun
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The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a perfect sphere of hot plasma, with internal convective motion that generates a magnetic field via a dynamo process. It is by far the most important source of energy for life on Earth. Its diameter is about 109 times that of Earth, and its mass is about 330,000 times that of Earth, accou

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The Sun in visible wavelength with filtered white light on 8 July 2014. Characteristic limb darkening and numerous sunspots are visible.

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During a total solar eclipse, the solar corona can be seen with the naked eye, during the brief period of totality.

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Taken by Hinode 's Solar Optical Telescope on 12 January 2007, this image of the Sun reveals the filamentary nature of the plasma connecting regions of different magnetic polarity.

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Visible light photograph of sunspot, 13 December 2006

Lagrange points
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The Lagrange points mark positions where the combined gravitational pull of the two large masses provides precisely the centrifugal force required to orbit with them. There are five points, labeled L1 to L5, all in the orbital plane of the two large bodies. The first three are on the line connecting the two bodies, the last two, L4 and L5, each for

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Visualisation of the relationship between the Lagrangian points (red) of a planet (blue) orbiting a star (yellow) anticlockwise, and the effective potential in the plane containing the orbit (grey rubber-sheet model with purple contours of equal potential). Click for animation.

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Lagrange points in the Sun–Earth system (not to scale)

Solar System
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The Solar System is the gravitationally bound system comprising the Sun and the objects that orbit it, either directly or indirectly. Of those objects that orbit the Sun directly, the largest eight are the planets, with the remainder being significantly smaller objects, such as dwarf planets, of the objects that orbit the Sun indirectly, the moons,

Flight dynamics (spacecraft)
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Spacecraft flight dynamics is the science of space vehicle performance, stability, and control. Dynamics is the modeling of the position and orientation of a vehicle. For a spacecraft, these forces are of three types, propulsive force, gravitational force exerted by the Earth or other celestial bodies, the vehicles attitude must be taken into accou

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A diagram showing the velocity and force vectors acting on a space vehicle during launch.

Flight dynamics (aircraft)
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Flight dynamics is the science of air vehicle orientation and control in three dimensions. The three critical flight dynamics parameters are the angles of rotation in three dimensions about the center of mass, known as pitch, roll and yaw. Aerospace engineers develop control systems for a vehicles orientation about its center of mass, for example,

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This article is about flight dynamics for aircraft. For general flight dynamics, see Flight dynamics.

Banked turn
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A banked turn is a turn or change of direction in which the vehicle banks or inclines, usually towards the inside of the turn. For a road or railroad this is due to the roadbed having a transverse down-slope towards the inside of the curve. The bank angle is the angle at which the vehicle is inclined about its axis with respect to the horizontal. I

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Douglas DC-3 banking to make a left turn.

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Upper panel: Ball on a banked circular track moving with constant speed v; Lower panel: Forces on the ball. The resultant or net force on the ball found by vector addition of the normal force exerted by the road and vertical force due to gravity must equal the required force for centripetal acceleration dictated by the need to travel a circular path.

Lawrence M. Krauss
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Krauss is the author of several bestselling books, including The Physics of Star Trek and A Universe from Nothing, and chairs the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists Board of Sponsors. Krauss was born in New York City, but spent his childhood in Toronto, Ontario and he was raised in a Jewish household. On January 19,1980, he married Katherine Kelley,

Theoretical physics
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Theoretical physics is a branch of physics that employs mathematical models and abstractions of physical objects and systems to rationalize, explain and predict natural phenomena. This is in contrast to physics, which uses experimental tools to probe these phenomena. The advancement of science depends in general on the interplay between experimenta

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Visual representation of a Schwarzschild wormhole. Wormholes have never been observed, but they are predicted to exist through mathematical models and scientific theory.

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The Hanford site represents two-thirds of the United States' high-level radioactive waste by volume. Nuclear reactors line the riverbank at the Hanford Site along the Columbia River in January 1960.

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As of 2013, the Fukushima nuclear disaster site remains highly radioactive, with some 160,000 evacuees still living in temporary housing, and some land will be unfarmable for centuries. The difficult cleanup job will take 40 or more years, and cost tens of billions of dollars.

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Image of a simulated traversable wormhole that connects the square in front of the physical institutes of University of Tübingen with the sand dunes near Boulogne sur Mer in the north of France. The image is calculated with 4D raytracing in a Morris–Thorne wormhole metric, but the gravitational effects on the wavelength of light have not been simulated.